The Prep
by cmeo
Summary: AU: Callie begins a new job at Parkstone Prep and instantly feels an attraction to a certain blonde, but not everything is as it seems. Can they overcome the discrimination and change the face of a school founded on 300 years of conservative tradition?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

**A/N: **Emma and I have been friends forever and discovered our mutual love of Grey's and specifically Calzona recently, so we thought why not write together? We have discovered that we write really well together, and creepily add the same ideas to the google document at the same time. We hope you guys enjoy this little fic we've conjured up as much as we've been enjoying writing it!

**Chapter 1**

Parkstone Preperatory Academy has certainly had its fair share of scandals in the past, but none of them compares to the one they were about to endure over the next nine months. The Prep, as they were more commonly known throughout the region, had recently fired John Hansen, one of the foremost musical directors in the country due to an elaborate embezzlement scheme and were bringing in a new woman straight off of Broadway. It made headlines across the country and was dubbed the 'scandal of the year' within the private school community.

Parents who send their children to private school expect a certain level of academic and athletic standards and anything less than perfection is simply unacceptable. So when the head of the Board of Trustees saw Mr. Hansen walking along a downtown street holding hands with his partner Brian on a steamy July evening, they immediately phoned the Headmaster and held a meeting the following day on how to _dispose_of the problem. They couldn't have their children being taught by a gay man no matter how extremely talented he may be. The following week, Mr. Hansen was called by the Headmaster to attend a meeting in the main conference room. He was told they were launching an investigation into involvement with a suspected embezzlement plot. After extensive searching into Mr. Hansen's history with the school, including emails, notes to the kids on their performances, and testimonies from fellow faculty, they finally provided the grounds to fire him. They had effectively produced falsified records of his bank statements and deposits into his personal bank account with numbers matching his musical production sales. Unbeknownst to him, he was pleading to the people who set him up to find the people who had set him up. They told him that if he left quietly, they wouldn't press charges so he forcefully pushed himself back from the table and left without looking back.

Arizona was the first person John Hansen called. She was devastated to hear the news since she was basically one of his only allies at the institution. Teddy Altman was the only other person that knew his secret, and she only knew because she overheard them talking. When he was alone one day, Teddy confronted him about it and told him that he had a friend and ally in her as well, and if he ever needed to talk, she would be there.

Arizona knew first-hand how hard it was to keep your private life private with the prying eyes of the parents always watching. Although all the faculty knew the truth about Arizona's so-called 'chosen lifestyle', they turned a blind eye because she won championship after championship for the school's field hockey program as well as the Athletic Department and that kept The Prep high in the rankings for prospective students. The school saw the athletic program as a top priority so they kept Arizona around. The Fine Arts, however, were at the bottom of the totem pole and as far as the Prep was concerned, Mr. Hansen's position could easily be filled. As soon as she received the call, Arizona was out the door on her way to John and Brian's house.

Using her spare key, she twisted it to unlock the door and ran right over to the couch where John sat, hurt and defeated.

"John I'm so sorry about what has happened. What were the grounds of your termination? It certainly couldn't be because you're gay." Arizona wrapped an arm around him as Brian walked into the room with two cups of coffee. He knew this was going to be a long night for the two friends so he made himself scarce.

John just stared blankly at the floor; the realization setting in that his life and career were pretty much over. "They told me that they had emails and bank account statements showing that I was embezzling money from the school's musical productions. I mean do they honestly think that I would do that? I know they can track the school's funds. I'm not an idiot!"

Arizona continued to rub his back and give him words of support and encouragement. "Can you fight them? Hire a lawyer and prove that the records have been falsified? I just don't see how they can win this!"

John shook his head, "They showed me the bank statements, the receipts from the deposits, they have it all worked out. It's air-tight. They wanted me gone. They're just using this as a cover-up for the real reason they wanted me out of there. A few weeks ago I spotted that snotty, pretentious bitch, Mrs. Roberts, and her husband walking down the other side of the street and as much as I tried to walk in the other direction I think she saw me. Brian and I were just enjoying a nice evening out but it turns out that it was probably the spark that lit the fire under this whole scheme. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that I'm done with that place. I don't know how you can do it. Hiding who you truly are. There needs to be a change made at that institution before someone ends up getting seriously hurt. Those children are being brainwashed and we can't do a damn thing about it. It's about time someone cleans house and finds a way to get those lying bastards fired!"

Arizona felt John's pain. She hadn't done a great job at hiding how she was, but now with him getting terminated, it was a personal blow to her as well. She vowed to John and herself that before she left there, she would see to it that things would change for the better.

"I'm so sorry this has happened to you. If you need anything at all you know I'm always here to help in any way I can." Arizona quickly kissed his cheek and gave him a hug before leaving. Her heart broke for John and Brian. She didn't know what they were going to do now. Brian had a job where he barely made ends meet and now with John not working, they were going to have to move someplace less expensive where he wasn't well-known.

That proved to be more difficult than originally thought. The scandal made national news and for the next two weeks, John Hansen's name was dragged through the mud. Everywhere he went to look for a job he was turned away without a second thought. After looking for a position for almost a month, he called Arizona and Teddy to let them know he had found employment as a mailman in a small county the rural Midwest. They could tell he wasn't happy at all but it paid the bills and kept a roof over his and Brian's heads and that's what mattered. Arizona missed her friend terribly but knew this was the best move for him right now. This was the power The Prep had over people's lives. One wrong move and they had the resources and connections to ruin someone's life.

By mid-August, the fall athletic season tryouts were in full swing and aside from being an accomplished French linguist during the school year, Arizona Robbins was also the Varsity Field Hockey Coach. Choosing girls for her team was always a daunting task because the majority of them, aside from their privileged lifestyle, were actually amazingly gifted athletes, but there were only so many spots on the Varsity squad.

Riley Banner had been the captain of the team and Arizona's star player for 3 years now and was about to begin her senior year as a Parkstone Panther. As she watched Riley effortlessly swerve and dodge the other girls while dribbling the ball down the field, Arizona knew she would never coach another player as talented as that. She valued Riley's input on each of the players knowing that although she was coaching them, Riley was the one guiding them on the field, and if she couldn't trust her fellow team mates, they wouldn't be a cohesive group and they could kiss the championship title goodbye.

Arizona cheered as Riley dribbled to her left only to fake a dodge and psych out her opponent, scooping the ball smoothly over the goalie's outstretched arm. Riley's dirty blonde hair bounced behind her as she went to accept the hugs and high fives from her teammates. Smiling, Arizona thought how much Riley reminded her of herself at that age. Riley was generally cheerful and optimistic on the outside, a fearless leader to her team, and an intelligent, outspoken student, but there was always something lingering just beneath the sparkle of her hazel eyes.

Callie Torres set her bag down in a plush chair in the front row of the auditorium and sighed contentedly. Being in a theater, whether it was a newly renovated high school theater or a historic Broadway one, made Callie feel at home. She inhaled deeply, taking in the heady scent that was unique to the theater, while she ran her hand across the ornate wooden proscenium to the side of the stage.

As she closed her eyes, she let her mind wander back to the exhilaration of starring in a hit Broadway show. Absolutely nothing could compare, but she was ready to move on. Sure, she would miss the adrenaline, the lights, the energy, but when she had received the offer from Parkstone Prep, she had accepted it without hesitation and had walked away from the Great White Way without one backwards glance. Callie was tired of the drama, the cut-throat nature of those involved in the musical theater world. She thought that moving to rural Virginia would be the right choice for her; she wanted to settle down, start a family. Little did she know that the preparatory school world was just as full of unnecessary scandals and competition as the Broadway world.

Many of the teachers milled around the large classroom, catching up with each other after summer vacation, asking how spouses and children were, and predicting that this year at Parkstone would be the best yet. Being new, Callie kept to herself, happily sipping some ice water in the corner. She was generally an outgoing person, but this was an entirely new situation for her. She watched as the teachers animatedly greeted each other and smiled; this was obviously a close-knit family.

Callie was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a chipper "hi!" She jumped back slightly and turned to the source of the perkiness.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Arizona. Robbins. I'm a French teacher here and the Varsity field hockey coach," the blonde woman said with a dimpled grin, while she held out her hand.

Callie shook the proffered hand with a bemused smile. "I'm Callie Torres. I'm the new theater teacher."

"Oh," Arizona replied, pulling her hand back immediately. Callie furrowed her brow and was about to question Arizona's demeanor, when the blonde's mood suddenly shifted right back to cheerful. "Well, we're super excited to have you here, Callie!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you guys for all the reviews/alerts from the first chapter! We really appreciate it. We're going to be updating about once a week from here on out, since Jamie is busy with work and Emma is busy with school.

**Chapter 2**

"Riley, get your head in the game!" Arizona all but screamed from the side-line. She threw her hands in the air and paced back and forth in front of the rest of the team, as Riley missed yet another easy cross, leaving the Panthers still one goal behind their biggest rival.

When the ref blew the whistle, signifying the end of the game, Riley stalked off the field in a frenzy. She raked off her shin guards and threw them in her bag, before grabbing her water bottle and brushing past her coach. Arizona's hand shot out immediately to grab Riley's wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home."

"Oh, I don't think so. We're going to talk about your performance on the field today."

Riley let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes as she roughly pulled her wrist away from Arizona and took a large gulp of her water.

"Can we please just talk about this tomorrow, Coach? I've had a hard enough day as it is and the last thing I need is to be grilled by you about how crappy my performance was today."

Arizona stood there wide-eyed and mouth agape. She couldn't believe the words coming out of this normally kind and quiet teenager. At the look of shock on her coach's face, Riley softened and took a step forward.

"I'm sorry. I just...can't. Not today. Can I come by your office tomorrow to talk about it?" Arizona was about to protest when she noticed a flash of familiar black hair out of the corner of her eye. "And besides, it looks like you have a visitor," Riley finished with a shy smile.

Arizona sighed. "Okay, fine. But we are talking about this tomorrow. No excuses!"

Riley nodded her head, before racing off the field towards the parking lot. Arizona shook her head and smiled wryly as she watched the teenager retreat.

"Hey," came a soft, but deep voice behind her.

"Callie, hi!" Arizona exclaimed as she spun around on her heel. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a wide, dimpled smile.

Callie shifted her sunglasses to the top of her head and was pleased that Arizona was seemingly excited to see her. "Well, I was on my way off campus and I saw you guys playing. Believe it or not, I've never seen a field hockey game before, so I thought I'd come check it out."

Arizona gasped mockingly. "Well then I'm so glad you stopped by! Next time you should come to the whole game and not just the last 5 minutes." Arizona smirked as she saw Callie's expression change from total confidence to one of complete embarrassment.

"Oh...I umm...well I just..." Callie was at a loss for words, which didn't happen very often. Her face flushed and she was looking anywhere other than Arizona.

"I'm kidding, Calliope." Arizona let out a small chuckle as she turned around bent over to pick up the bag that held the practice jerseys and cones.

Callie didn't forgo the opportunity to check the blonde out from a different angle. She was thin but definitely fit, and had the most amazing curves in all the right places. Callie snapped out of her reverie as Arizona stood back up straight. It was then she realized Arizona had used her full name.

"Arizona, how is it you know my name?" Callie asked in the hopes that Arizona read it in a magazine somewhere.

Arizona looked at Callie, thoroughly confused. "Umm...Callie have you recently hit your head? You introduced yourself yesterday at the meeting, remember?"

"No, of course I remember that. I introduced myself as 'Callie'. Not 'Calliope'. How is it that you know my full name, hmm?"

Now it was Arizona's turn to be flustered. Callie stared at the blank expression on the blonde's face, obviously waiting for an answer. Arizona sighed, deciding the truth was better than lying and having to explain herself later.

"John Hansen, the man whose position you filled, is a very good friend of mine, so naturally I wanted to know the qualifications of the person taking his spot. I may or may not have googled you," Arizona admitted sheepishly.

Callie was surprised at the admission. She wasn't expecting that and instantly became worried about what else Arizona had discovered about her. Callie had always been so careful to hide who she truly was but there could always be some disgruntled ex-girlfriend looking to seek some revenge.

Callie decided that if Arizona had found anything of the sort, she would have said something by now. Callie couldn't be the only one who noticed the subtle flirting between the two.

"Well, I must have passed the test because I'm here and you're still talking to me." Callie said as she smiled smugly.

Arizona gave the Latina her best dimpled smile. "I guess you did. So we have another game this Thursday if you want to come."

"I'd like that. Can I walk you to your car?"

Although Arizona really wanted the company, she thought better of it just in case a stray parent or student was wandering around campus.

"Can I take a raincheck? I have to study some post-game notes to get ready for the regular season, so I'm going to be hanging around here for a few hours. I'm sorry."

Callie's face immediately fell into a frown, but she quickly recovered. "I'm definitely going to take you up on that raincheck. See you tomorrow?"

"Looking forward to it." As they set off in opposite directions, Arizona chanced a glance backwards at Callie's retreating form. She smiled and couldn't help but wonder if this woman is exactly the ray of hope Parkstone needed to change.

**o0o0o**

The following day, Arizona sat at her desk, milling over French essays her students had written about what they did that summer. To be honest, it was a test to see how well her second year students remembered what they had learned. Some of the papers she read with pride, but some of them had her downright laughing her butt off. She could tell she had a lot of work ahead of her this year.

The first week of school had been particularly rough on Arizona. Between balancing school and practices, her schedule was full. Normally she would have John to vent to during their lunch period, but since he was gone, she found herself filling that hour with extra work to keep herself busy. It was tough losing her best friend, and even more tough having an incredibly sexy woman fill his position. Arizona smiled to herself, thinking about that raven hair, big smile, and sexy curves. She was brought out of her thoughts of Callie by a quiet knock on her door.

"Hey, Coach," Riley said timidly as she poked her head into Arizona's office.

"Hey, Riley. Come on in," she replied with a warm smile, while gesturing to the empty seat on the other side of her desk.

Before Arizona could ask the teenager how she was, Riley began to ramble. "I know you're going to yell at me and you have every right to do so. My head wasn't in the game at all yesterday and I get that I basically lost the game for us, but I - "

"Whoa, I'm gonna stop you right there, Riley. Field hockey is a team sport, remember? You didn't lose the game for us. You didn't help the situation, but the rest of the team didn't exactly step up to the plate either."

"I know, but Anna was right there. If I'd made those crosses more accurately, she could have easily pushed them past that goalie."

"Riley, why don't you tell me what's going on? I've never seen you lose your cool like that before. I know this isn't about field hockey."

Riley glanced around the room as Arizona spoke, trying to find anything else to grab her attention other than her coach. When the awkward silence grew too much to bear, Riley braved a glance up at the blonde, who was staring intently back. She lowered her gaze just as quickly.

"I can't," she whispered.

"Riley, honey, you can tell me anything, I promise. Whatever it is, I'm here for you."

"No, Coach Robbins, you wouldn't understand. That's the problem. No one at this school understands."

"Try me."

Riley shook her head viciously. "Please don't make me do this. I've already gone through enough."

"Riley..." Arizona started, but was cut of by the young girl standing abruptly. "Riley, sit down."

"No, Ms. Robbins. You don't get it." Riley turned to leave, but Arizona grabbed her wrist quickly and firmly.

"Riley, I have no idea what's going on, but I am still your coach and you are a player on my team. I get that this is obviously a difficult, personal issue for you, but it is affecting your ability on the field, and I have a right to know."

Riley nodded her head and sat down quietly. Arizona commanded quite a bit of respect from most of the students in the school, but she was easily Riley's favorite coach and teacher, and the last thing Riley wanted to do was disappoint her.

"I don't know how to say this."

Arizona said nothing but nodded encouragingly and placed her hand over Riley's on the desk.

"You can't tell anyone." When Arizona didn't reply, Riley pressed on. "Seriously, you can't tell _anyone_, okay?"

Arizona furrowed her brow, wondering how bad Riley's secret could be. "There are certain situations that require me to tell - "

"This isn't one of those situations. Just promise me. Please?"

"Okay, I promise," Arizona said almost immediately.

Despite Arizona's promise, Riley remained unsure and fidgeted nervously in her seat. She pulled her hand out from under Arizona's and picked at her nails, looking up to meet Arizona's caring gaze every so often.

"I'm gay," she murmured finally.

"Oh, Riley," Arizona said with a long sigh.

"You're judging me now, aren't you? God, I knew it! You're all the same!"

"No!" Arizona exclaimed immediately, hoping Riley wouldn't try to storm out of her office again. "I'm not judging you, not at all. I just...I understand how hard it must be for you."

"No you don't. You have no idea what it's like being gay at this school."

Choosing to ignore that touchy subject, Arizona tried a different tactic. "Riley, if no one knows, how come you were so upset yesterday?"

"Emily knows."

"You told her? That's great! It's great that you felt you could tell a friend."

"I didn't tell her. She found my journal and now she's trying to make my life a living hell."

Arizona's face dropped instantly. "I'm so sorry. Look, if you're being bullied, you need to tell someone."

"No, I don't want anyone else to know!"

"But, Emily..."

"...won't tell anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because she's afraid that if she tells anyone, they'll also find out that she's the one I was in love with."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Arizona, wait up!"

Arizona swiveled on her heel and smiled as she saw Callie jogging towards her through one of the many courtyards on campus.

"Hey," Callie said with a bright smile once she had caught up.

"Hey yourself."

They began walking towards the upper school building in silence, occasionally glancing at the other and blushing when the other noticed. Callie couldn't help but think that since joining the faculty at Parkstone Prep, she was acting more like a student than a teacher.

"So, your game is at 4:15 this afternoon, right? I wouldn't want to be late this time."

"Yeah? It's going to be an awesome game. There's no way The Prep's going to lose."

"You're pretty confident, aren't you?"

"Well, we're not the best team in the region for no reason...despite what you saw the other day."

As they neared the doors to the school, Callie hesitated. "There's something else I wanted to ask you."

Arizona cocked her head and watched Callie nervously grab at the door handle.

"Yes?"

"I was just...wondering what you were doing after the game tonight."

Arizona glanced nervously around the hall, which was bustling with students and teachers. Taking Arizona's hesitation entirely the wrong way, Callie spoke again. "I mean, maybe I read the signs wrong, but I kinda thought you were into...What the hell are you doing?" Callie exclaimed as Arizona grabbed her roughly by the elbow and led her to her office.

"No, the question is: what the hell were _you_ doing?"

"Well, I was trying to ask you out on a date, when you basically manhandled me into your office."

"I did not manhandle you! Okay, that's not the point. The point is that you really thought it was a good idea to ask me that in public where there are gossip-hungry students listening?"

"Oh my god, Arizona. Stop being a drama queen. This isn't the freaking FBI. There aren't cameras on the walls, watching our every move."

"No, it's not the FBI, but it is Parkstone Prep, and you're not on Broadway anymore, honey."

Callie rolled her eyes at Arizona's condescending term of endearment. "Yes, I'm aware of that."

Arizona paced by her desk, internally counting to ten to keep her cool. "Look, Callie, do you know anything about why you got this position?"

Callie shrugged. "No, my manager knew I was looking for a career change and heard about this opening, I applied, and now I'm here."

"Well, to put it simply, the man you replaced was fired for being gay."

"What? They can't do that!"

"No, but they can frame someone. Look, Callie, the administration and the board at Parkstone are very influential and very conservative, so one wrong move, and you're out."

"But, what about you? It's not exactly a very well-kept secret that you're - "

"The Prep prides itself on its athletics, and I am damn good at my job. They're willing to turn a blind-eye. As long as I am discreet, they don't care."

Callie let out a long puff of air, wondering what she had signed up for. "And you're okay with that?"

"Not really, but aside from that, this is a great place to work, and the kids are wonderful. So, you just need to be careful," Arizona finished with a resigned sigh.

"_I_ need to be careful?"

"We need to be careful. I've never tried to date anyone from school before."

"So that means you're saying yes?" Callie smirked when Arizona looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Yes to what?"

"To dinner after the game tonight."

"Um...I, uh...hadn't thought..." Arizona braved a glance towards Callie, who was clearly trying to stifle a chuckle. "Yes, I'm saying yes...to dinner after the game tonight. As long as we're careful."

**o0o0o**

Callie stood next to her bed trying to decide what to wear. Her eyes kept landing on her classic little black dress, but thought that was just too plain. She wanted to 'wow' Arizona tonight, because after all, first impressions were everything. She went back to rummage through her closet and picked out a simple sleeveless maroon dress that fell just above her knees. It was fitted enough to show curves where she wanted them and loose enough to be comfortable. Pleased with her choice, she styled her hair, did her make-up, and within fifteen minutes she was out the door to pick up her date.

Arizona was having a much easier time choosing an outift. She wore a pair of khaki shorts and a sailor striped fitted tee. She figured if they were going to the beach, she might as well be dressed for the occasion. She was sitting in her living room drinking a glass of wine when her doorbell rang. As she stood, she smoothed over the non-existent wrinkles on her shirt, and inhaled deeply, puffing out her cheeks. She took one last glance at her appearance in the hallway mirror and grinned at her reflection. Practically skipping to the door, she yanked open the handle to see Callie smoothly leaning on the frame.

"Hi," Arizona said, slightly out of breath, both from the skipping and Callie's appearance.

"Hey," Callie said in a low voice, apologetically raking her eyes over Arizona's form. "You ready?"

"Yep!" The blonde grabbed her purse from the coat rack just inside the door and took Callie's proffered hand. When she saw the Thunderbird parked in the driveway, she gasped.

"Nice car!"

"Yeah? You know cars?"

"No, I just know that you'll look hot driving this one," Arizona said with a wink as she hopped into the passenger's seat. Callie groaned and rolled her eyes, before slipping into the driver's seat.

With the top down, neither woman felt the need to make awkward small talk on their hour-long drive down to the oceanfront. Despite the silence, both women felt at ease, not-so-subtly glancing at their windswept companion. As Callie smoothly guided the car off the highway, Arizona slid her hand over Callie's on the gearshift, intertwining their fingers. Callie smiled in approval and continued to drive effortlessly with one hand along the oceanfront. They arrived at a small beach-front restaurant, which was tastefully decorated to fit its location.

As soon as she parked, Callie jumped out of the car to open Arizona's door.

"Oooh, how chivalrous!" Arizona giggled.

Callie smiled as Arizona slid out of the car and they walked to the patio area outside to grab a table.

Callie felt the disconnect as Arizona's had left hers to pull out her chair.

"Callie it's so beautiful out tonight! How did you know about this place?"

As she sat down, Callie replied, "I actually did a little research yesterday looking for places that were far enough out of town where the likelihood of us being spotted together was very slim, but not too far where our entire date would be spent driving."

"That's honestly the most considerate thing anyone has done for me in a long time. Thank you." Arizona was thrilled that Callie put a fair amount of thought into their date, and even more so that she really wanted Arizona to be comfortable and so that they wouldn't have to spend their date looking for prying eyes. She smiled and reached across the table to take Callie's hand. Callie blushed and flitted her eyes to the ground where their crossed legs were dangerously close to touching, before glancing back up at those beautiful baby blues.

Their eye contact was interrupted by the waitress coming to take their orders, after which they fell into an easy conversation, each wanting to learn everything about the other, down to the smallest detail. Before they knew it the check had come, but neither Arizona nor Callie wanted the night to end.

Arizona suggested, "Why don't we take a walk along the boardwalk and look at some shops? I'd love to get a souvenir from tonight."

"That sounds like a great idea. I heard there are some good local bands playing on a few of the streets tonight. Maybe we could stop and listen to a couple?"

"Sure! Ready to go?" Arizona held out her hand for Callie to take as they made their way through the throngs of people crowding the boardwalk. Summer was coming to an end and although they were visiting a quaint little beach town, tourists still seemed to flock there, making the beaches excessively overcrowded.

They stopped at a few shops along the way and Arizona found a beautiful picture frame with a single sand dollar adorning the corner. She purchased it and as they walked out of the store back onto the boardwalk, she asked Callie to take a picture of her looking out into the ocean. When Callie asked why they both couldn't be in the picture, Arizona replied, "I want to keep this on my desk at work. If you take it then it will have a part of you in it. Don't worry we're going to get some shots of us with the beach in the background, too."

Callie took out her cell phone and snapped a few photos of Arizona with the Atlantic in the background and then asked a nice older woman to take a few pictures of both of them. The woman happily obliged and they started to make their way back to Callie's car.

The night air was getting chilly, so Callie put the top of her T-bird up and they made their way back to Arizona's place. Callie once again felt slender fingers glide over hers and grasped Arizona's hand the whole way home.

Callie eased the car into the driveway and shut off the ignition. It had been so long since either of them had been on a date, so they had almost forgotten the awkward dance that came next. Arizona thought about inviting Callie in, but realized that was probably too forward. Callie wanted to kiss the blonde so badly but didn't know if that was first date etiquette anymore, not to mention anyone could be watching. They sat there in silence for a minute before Callie finally gathered up the courage to speak first.

"Let me walk you to your door."

"Okay, I just have to find my keys."

They got out of the car at the same time and walked towards the house. The four steps up to the front door seemed to go on forever. The two women looked at each other and couldn't help but let out a slight laugh at how awkward they must look. They were grown adults acting like teenagers again.

"I had a great time tonight, Callie. Thank you so much for everything. It's really nice to be able to go out and just relax and have a good time."

"I had a great time tonight, too. I can't wait to see that photo sitting on your desk." Callie was grinning. She liked that although she wasn't physically in the photo, Callie felt there was still a piece of her associated with it.

Callie looked at the smaller woman and caught her gaze. She reached out and tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear as she cradled Arizona's face. Both leaned in at the same time and their lips met in the middle. It was a short kiss but long enough to leave them wanting more.

"So..." Callie started as she pulled away. "I'll see you around school?"

Arizona nodded, a wide smile still plastered on her face. "I'll call you."

Callie leaned in again to give Arizona a chaste kiss goodnight, before turning and heading down the paved driveway, doing her best not to turn around and look back on the way.

Once seeing that Callie was safely in her car, Arizona turned and shut the door behind her. Leaning against the door, she touched her fingers to her lips gently, still able to feel the Latina's lips on hers. She shook her head at how absolutely cheesy she was being and headed to her bedroom, wondering how the brunette had reduced her to a lovesick teenager.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN1: We wanted to shout out a BIG THANK YOU to all those that are reading! My inbox has been FLOODED with alerts and that makes me all warm and fuzzy so we're glad you all are enjoying this story! Thanks also to everyone that is reviewing :) You all keep us going!**

**AN2: The conversation went something like this:**

**E: Wanna post Thursday?**

**J: Sure...**

**E: Or...now? But we haven't finished Chapter 5.**

**J: Let's post now.**

**E: Okay!**

**...My point is: A. you're all welcome and B. We're sorry if it takes us longer to post the next chapter :) ENJOY!**

**Chapter 4**

Arizona called Callie around noon on Saturday. The weather had been awful so the field hockey game had been cancelled and she wanted to spend a quiet afternoon with the woman that had been occupying her thoughts for the past couple of weeks. Callie arrived around 1:30 and brought over a bunch of movies that she loved, hoping there were at least one or two that Arizona hadn't seen.

They decided on Easy A. They held a mutual fondness for Emma Stone and Arizona had failed to see this movie yet. It was one of Callie's favorites. As cheesy as she knew it was, her ringtone for a whole year had been 'Pocket Full Of Sunshine'.

Arizona had a large sectional sofa that could easily fit five people, but it was also ideal for stretching out. She was lying sideways on the couch and Callie sat at the edge of her feet. She took the opportunity to pull the blondes' feet into her lap. Arizona smiled and closed her eyes at the soft feeling of the brunette's hands dancing on her skin. Fingertips ran along the outside of Arizona's ankle and up her shapely calf before returning to the sole of her foot. She applied more pressure and received a rewarding moan as she watched the blonde's head tip back against the couch. Callie had turned her attention back to the movie, when she suddenly felt the weight shift in her lap. As she looked to her right, she saw Arizona sitting up. She went to let go her her feet, but Arizona didn't budge them. She leaned forward and traced a single finger against the jawline of the brunette before leaning in and capturing her lips with her own.

Arizona's hands immediately dipped into Callie's long, raven locks to pull her closer, never breaking the kiss as they fell backwards with the smaller woman trapped underneath. Callie pressed her body weight into Arizona and her right hand fell onto the exposed hip beneath her, while her left hand weaved its way through blonde hair. Her thumb ran across Arizona's hipbone where her shirt had risen up and Arizona's hands had moved further south to explore what was under the hem of the Callie's shirt.

Arizona snaked her tongue along the expanse of Callie's bottom lip and was instantly granted access to the depths of the Latina's mouth. They both moaned at the contact and continued to kiss like that for a few minutes before Callie pulled away.

"I'm really going to hate myself tomorrow, but as cliche as it sounds, I think we should do this right and take things slow. Trust me I would love nothing more than to rip your clothes off right now but I rushed the last relationship I was in and it ended horribly. I really like you and I don't want us rushing into anything too soon."

Arizona pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at the brunette with an intense sincerity. "I think you're right. I want to take things slowly, too. It's going to be hard because if this is what I feel like just by kissing you, I can't imagine what it's going to feel like doing anything else, but I think for both our personal and professional sake, you're right. We shouldn't rush into anything. Although I'd love for you to stay for dinner."

"Dinner sounds like a great idea. It's such a nice night we can even sit on your back porch and eat." Arizona nodded and Callie placed a quick kiss on Arizona's cheek before the blonde got up and made her way into the kitchen.

The rest of their evening was spent either snuggling on the couch watching a movie or sitting on the porch, immersed in silence, just content to be near one another.

The pair had curled up together on the couch again and started another movie. It wasn't even 10 minutes in before Callie felt Arizona's breath even out, signaling she was asleep. She didn't want to move her but they both had to be at work early for a meeting.

Callie slightly jostled the sleeping form next to her. "Arizona, wake up. It's getting late and you're falling asleep."

Arizona sat up slightly and yawned. She turned to face the brunette, exhaustion written all over her delicate features.

"Do you want to stay? I promise I'll be good." Arizona asked hopeful.

"As much as I'd love to, I can't promise I'll be good. I think we both need some sleep before tomorrow morning."

Arizona seemed a little disappointed but understood. It _was_pretty late.

"Okay, I'll walk you out." They rose off the couch and walked hand in hand to the front door. Callie really didn't want to leave but if they were going to continue to take things slow, she knew it was for the best.

They got to the door and Callie turned to the sleepy, smaller woman and placed a gentle kiss on her nose and then moved to her lips.

"Sweet dreams, sweetie. I'll see you bright and early in the morning."

"Goodnight, Calliope. Sleep tight." The blonde said with a smile and watched as the brunette made it safely to her car. She then shut the door and trudged upstairs to the comfort of her own bed.

**o0o0o**

"Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming in early to meet with us today. I just have a few announcements, and then Arizona Robbins has a request for you all," Headmaster Clayton said as the room fell quiet.

Callie furrowed her brow as she glanced to the blonde sitting next to her, wondering what this request could be. Arizona shook her head and smiled, before sitting back in her chair to listen to the mundane and routine announcements.

When Headmaster Clayton signalled for Arizona to stand at the front of the room, she took a deep breath, and walked slowly past her colleagues, knowing that her request would not be well received. She took one last glance at Callie and Teddy, who both smiled at her reassuringly, though neither knew what she was about to say.

"Thank you all for coming to this impromptu faculty meeting. I know you are all eager to plan your lessons for the day, so I will keep this brief." A couple of the faculty members grumbled their agreement under their breaths and Arizona resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "That doesn't make what I have to say any less important, though, so please, just give me a few minutes of your time."

When she was satisfied that she had most of the faculty members' attention, she took in another shuddering breath. "It has been brought to my attention that Parkstone may have a bullying problem."

"Oh, that's preposterous. There is no way anyone is being bullied here at The Prep. They're teenagers, Arizona; they're all a little dramatic," Clayton interjected condescendingly.

Arizona set her jaw. "I know for a fact that this particular teenager was not being dramatic, and that it is affecting her academic and athletic ability."

"Who is it? Someone on your team?" This time the question was posed by a fellow teacher, Mark Sloan.

"We're not here to gossip about it, Mark. And she's already been through enough. The last thing she needs is to get treated differently."

"Ah, so it's a she. Definitely on your -" Mark was cut off by Teddy's elbow to his abdomen.

"Anyway, I just thought it was time to address this problem. I know it's difficult to stop bullying, especially when those being bullied do not want any attention drawn to them, so that's not quite what I'm suggesting. What I am asking is that we all try to set aside class time to have open discussions with our students, talks to help encourage tolerance regarding race, religion...sexual orientation."

Headmaster Clayton leaped out of his seat when he heard the last item on Arizona's list. "Okay, thank you for sharing this with us, Ms. Robbins. Let's just see how much support we have for Arizona's idea, shall we?"

Arizona groaned as she heard murmurs coming from the room about how this was a waste of time or was completely unnecessary.

"Okay, so how many people want to implement Arizona's plan?"

Teddy slowly but firmly raised her right hand, glancing around the room to see how much support they would have. A couple other teachers raised their hands as well, but the vast majority were keeping their hands firmly at their sides, still moaning about how unnecessary this entire meeting had been. Arizona glanced to Callie, who, after catching Arizona's eyes and blushing, was doing a very good job of looking at anything else besides the reproachful blonde. She kept both hands folded over the desk in front of her.

"Yes, I do happen to agree with the majority," Clayton continued. "We'll keep class time strictly to class matters, and if this 'bullying' thing actually becomes a problem, we'll have another meeting to discuss how to handle it. I hope you all have a good day."

**o0o0o**

"Hey," Callie said softly as she knocked on Arizona's slightly ajar office door. The first thing she noticed was the picture she had taken of Arizona at the beach was now lying face down on the desk. Arizona didn't look up from her work, but motioned for Callie to come in and close the door behind her. "You ran off this morning before I had a chance to - "

"To explain to me why you didn't back me up, why you just sat there motionlessly like every other damn sheep at this school?"

Not quite prepared for Arizona's bitter tone, Callie sank back into her seat. "Um, yeah, something like that."

"You just sat there, while I looked like a complete and total idiot up there."

"What was I supposed to do, Arizona? I'm new here. I can't go rocking the boat. Plus, you completely freaked me out the other day, when you basically told me that I had to watch my every move. Your job is relatively safe, remember? Mine? Not so much."

"They weren't going to fire you for raising your damn hand."

"Even if I had, it wouldn't have made any difference. You were totally outnumbered!"

"That is so not the point," Arizona replied in a low, threatening tone.

"Look, Arizona, I'm sorry. I guess I should have supported you."

"No, no, no! This isn't about us, because right now there isn't an us. I thought you were different. I thought you were someone who would stand up for what she believes in."

"I am, but this situation is different. I'm new here, and I would like to stay."

"This," Arizona began, while gesturing to the two of them, "was clearly a mistake."

"Arizona..."

"No, please get out of my office." Arizona was eerily calm, and Callie had no idea how to argue with her, so she silently stood and walked to the door. In some sort of symbolic gesture, Arizona took the photo from her desk and shoved it in a desk drawer.

"I'll, uh...I'll see you around, then," Callie said awkwardly from the door frame. Arizona merely nodded in reply.

"Please shut the door behind you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so, after last chapter we decided to change our plot. We feel kinda like Shonda, unable to please everyone, but we did our best. Hope you guys enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

It had been almost two days since their fight, if you could even call it that. It was more of a one-sided dismissal. Callie now sat in the cramped office that had been assigned to her, reviewing footage from last year's musical, jotting down notes of students' strong assets and weaknesses that needed improvement. John was a true talent in the business and Callie knew she certainly had some big shoes to fill. She still hadn't decided what to do for this year's show and time was running out. Auditions were beginning in a month and most of the lead female voices, she noticed, were also on Arizona's hockey team. Curious as to when their season would be over, Callie swiveled her chair around to face her computer and logged onto the school's website to check out the schedule. Clicking on 'Varsity Field Hockey', she noticed that the team was almost undefeated, the first game she attended being their only loss so far this season.

Callie surmised that if they kept up like this, they would be on the road to division champs and possibly a state title. Glancing through the roster, Callie counted six girls that were also in the Winter Musical last year and would be seniors this year. She glanced back at the schedule and it suddenly dawned on her that if Arizona's team wins the division champion, they would be going to States, which directly coincided with musical auditions. She rolled her eyes. As if she needed another reason to be annoyed with the blonde.

Callie hated the awkward silence the most, the cordial, but cold head nods as they passed each other in the hallways. For this very reason, she had become skilled at avoiding Arizona at all costs. However childish it might have been, Callie had been taking circuitous routes around the grounds in an effort to stay out of Arizona's path. So when Arizona walked purposefully towards the brunette one day on their way to lunch, Callie stood rooted to her spot, her brain trying to decide whether to engage the fight response or the flight one. Before she had settled firmly on flight, she felt a gentle hand on her arm.

"Callie," Arizona said with a slight nod of her head.

"Arizona," Callie replied in kind, but with far less confidence than she'd hoped for and anticipated.

"Could you come to my office this afternoon?" When Callie baulked at being treated like a student, Arizona added a plaintive, "please?"

Staring into the crystal eyes before her, Callie struggled to find a reason why she shouldn't go.

"Fine. Whatever," Callie said abruptly, before spinning on her heel and racing down the hallway.

**o0o0o**

"So, should I see what she wants?" Callie asked, after filling Mark in on the details. In the few weeks Callie had been working at Parkstone, Mark had become a close friend. After hitting on her repeatedly to no avail, Mark finally decided that maybe he could handle being just friends with the Latina. Callie felt that she had finally started to see a softer, more sensitive side of womanizer Mark Sloan.

"You and Blondie, eh?" Mark asked, a lecherous smile plastered on his face. This was not his sensitive side.

"Stop imagining it, Sloan. And besides, nothing's going on." Callie trailed off into near silence as she gazed out the window at the courtyard.

"Hey, Torres. Chin up. You're hot. There are plenty of other people out there for you." Callie turned back to Mark and smiled a small, self-deprecating smile. This was the more sensitive side that she knew could be found somewhere deep down under his 6-pack.

"But I don't want other people. I know it's crazy, Mark. I mean I've only known her for a short time and we've only gone on one real date, but I just want to be with her."

"So why don't you tell her that?"

"Um, did you miss the part about her being really pissed off at me for no reason?"

"Look, I don't know Robbins very well, but I do know that she's a very proud and stubborn person. In a situation like this, that's not a great combo. Maybe she was mad at you, but now? I think she's just running scared. So you need to stop letting her run."

"But I have every right to be just as mad at her. Why do I have to be the bigger person in this situation?" Callie knew she had begun to whine, but cared very little.

"Just see what she wants, Torres. Give her one more chance. If she doesn't apologize, she's not worth your time anyway."

Callie stared at him for a long moment, waiting for him to say something more Sloan-like.

"What?" Mark asked after an awkward silence. "Do I have something on my face?"

"I knew it! They all told me you had no soul and were just a man-whore, but I knew you were deeper than that."

Mark smiled and winked, before patting Callie's leg and standing from the bench they shared.

"Don't let anyone hear us. It'll ruin my rep."

Callie smiled warmly. "I'll make you a deal. You don't tell anyone about me and Arizona, and your secret's safe with me."

"Deal," Mark replied, comically sticking his hand out for Callie to shake. Once he released Callie's hand, Mark headed for the door.

"Hey, Mark?" He turned on his heel to look at her. "Thanks."

**o0o0o**

Before Callie had a chance to knock on Arizona's office door, it flung open to reveal a harried student and a worried Arizona. The student brushed past Callie, roughly swiping a tear off her cheek. Callie watched as the girl quickly regained composure, smoothing out her shirt, breathing deeply, and running a hand through her thick locks. Turning to face the woman she had blazed by, the student gave Callie a small smile.

"She misses you."

Callie's mouth widened comically as she watched the girl retreat down the hallway. The bewildered brunette swivelled on her heel and headed towards Arizona.

"You won't let me walk you to your car, but you told a student about us?" Callie seethed as she stalked through the door into Arizona's office and slammed the door behind her.

Not expecting Callie's wrath so soon into the conversation, Arizona furrowed her brow and gestured for Callie to sit in the seat opposite her desk. "Calliope, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"No. No, you don't get to Calliope me. You told a student about us! That girl, she just told me that you miss me. How the hell else would she know that?"

"Riley told you that?"

Callie rolled her eyes, losing patience. "I'm assuming that was Riley, yes."

Arizona sighed and sat back in her chair. "Riley is the captain of my team. She's also the girl who is being bullied for being gay. She's very perceptive."

"So you didn't tell her that you're...?" Arizona shook her head. "And that we were...?" Another shake of her head.

"Damn," Callie said, clearly impressed by the teen's intuitiveness. At that, Arizona allowed a small smile to grace her features, but just as soon, it was replaced by a neutral expression. She inhaled a heavy breath before locking eyes with Callie.

"Calliope," Arizona started. Callie rolled her eyes at the name, but remained silent. "Calliope," Arizona continued, undeterred, "I'm really sorry about what happened the other day."

"You're a hypocrite, you know that?" Despite the harsh words, Callie's voice was even, uncaring.

Arizona sucked in a breath, not expecting the harsh truth to be thrown in her face. She lowered her head and stared at her fingers for a moment. "I know."

When it appeared that Arizona was not going to continue, Callie once again rolled her eyes, placed her palms on the desk, and lifted herself from the chair.

"I panic," Arizona said suddenly, as if explaining everything. "Sometimes I panic in the moment and call it wrong."

Callie reluctantly sat back down and ran a hand through her perfectly messy curls. "Okay, so..."

"So, I misjudged the situation., and I'm sorry." Arizona met Callie's steely gaze. She shuddered slightly, but continued confidently. "So if you're up for it, I'd like to take you to dinner."

Callie pursed her lips and cocked her head, contemplating the blonde's offer.

"Maybe," Callie said noncommittally after several awkwardly long moments.

"Maybe?" Too flustered to see the mischief in Callie's eyes, Arizona unconsciously began bouncing a leg under her desk.

"Yeah, my schedule's kinda insane right now, so I'll, uh, get back to you."

With that, Callie strolled nonchalantly out of Arizona's office, allowing herself to grin once she passed through the door. She knew the moment Arizona asked her that her response was yes. Callie was a firm believer that everyone deserved a second chance, but until then, she was going to enjoy making the blonde squirm a little bit.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Firstly...THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! They're truly appreciated :) Sorry for the slight delay, guys - we've been really busy. Also, how awesome was Grey's last night?**

**Chapter 6**

Later that same day, Callie found herself having a difficult time choosing which musical production to perform this winter. She sighed as she rested her head on her fisted hand. Thumbing through another libretto Headmaster Clayton had thrown on her desk, she rolled her eyes. He had given her a pile of musicals that he had deemed safe and appropriate with a good message. Not that she had anything against _Guys and Dolls, The Music Man,_ or even _Godspell_, but she wanted to do something deeper, something that would both entertain and educate the audience. She threw _Beauty and the Beast _and _The Sound Of Music _on the discard pile before pulling the drawer open to reveal her own set of worn, beloved libretti. Smiling at the memories of her own performances, she quickly worked through her stack. About halfway through her breath caught and she smiled widely. _West Side Story_. It was easily one of her all-time favorite musicals. It had heart, a message, a great story, superb music, and killer Latin dances. Satisfied with her choice, she immediately purchased enough libretti for the cast and paid extra for 3-day shipping to ensure that they'd be ready for auditions because she knew how unreliable the postal service could be.

A slight knock on her office door brought her attention away from her computer screen. Callie had always firmly believed in an 'open-door' policy no matter where she worked. She felt it held more of an inviting attitude towards other faculty members and students. There, in her doorway stood Mark, clearly anxious to know how the meeting had gone earlier that day. He let himself in and plopped down on a chair, masticating his signature red apple.

"So how'd it go with blondie? I'm assuming well since you're not seeking me out for a shoulder to cry on."

Callie narrowed her eyes in a sarcastic manner. "As a matter of fact, it did go well. She apologized to me and said she called it wrong. Apparently sometimes she panics and that's why she treated me the way she did. Then she asked me out to dinner."

"Oh so are you going out tonight after her game?"

"No. My answer was maybe." Callie didn't need to look at Mark to know the expression he was wearing on his face.

"What do you mean you told her 'maybe'? I thought you wanted to be with her. Like was the 'end all' for you. What the hell, Cal?"

"Well...she deserved it! After the way I basically got verbally bitchslapped by her, I think she needs to sweat it out a little just as a reminder that I won't stand to be treated like that. In hindsight, yes, I probably should have stood up for what I believe is right, but after talking with her and finding out that the last person to fill my shoes was pretty much fired on the basis of being gay, you can kind of understand why I didn't want to 'rock the boat' so to speak."

"I don't get you. I don't get any of this. Women are so damn confusing. Just answer her! It's simple. Yes or no. That's it. There's no need to drag it out any longer. Be the bigger person, Torres! Go say yes and have fun with your girl."

Callie was a little shell-shocked. She hadn't expected Mark to react like that. She just sat there in silence and stared at him.

"Speaking of date, I've got my own. Some cute little substitute can't seem to resist my charming personality and handsome good looks, so I'm going to head out. Man up, Torres. If you haven't done it by the time I see you tomorrow, I'll do it myself. And don't think I won't." With that, Sloan tossed his apple in the trash and was out the door, leaving Callie to ponder her options (or lack thereof) about confronting the blonde tomorrow.

**o0o0o**

Arizona was grateful for having a home game today. She didn't want to have to drive anywhere and deal with a bus full of noisy teenage girls after the day she had. She understood why Callie didn't want to jump right back in, but

Teddy was walking down the language hall and noticed Arizona's door was shut, which meant she was either changing or meeting with a student. She decided to knock on the door anyway because she was curious as to how her friend's meeting with Callie had gone.

"Who is it?"

"Teddy. Can I come in?"

"Sure. I'm almost done changing."

Teddy waited a minute before opening the door to find Arizona tying her shoes.

"Hey there," Teddy began. Before giving Arizona an answer, she continued excitedly, "So? Don't keep me waiting! What did she say?"

Arizona looked a little dejected at the question and Teddy immediately knew her friend didn't receive the response she was looking for.

"I apologized to her. I told her that sometimes I call it wrong and this was one of those times. Then I asked her out to dinner and after all of that, she said maybe. She left my office and I haven't heard from her since. I know it sounds crazy Teddy but I really don't want to spend any more time apart. I screwed up and I know that but I thought maybe if I apologized she would forgive me and we could start over, but apparently I was wrong."

Teddy rolled her eyes immediately after Arizona's slightly whiny speech.

"What?" Arizona asked, hands on hips.

"I went on a date last night. Get this. His very first question was 'what's your favorite food?'"

Failing to see Teddy's point, but nonetheless curious, Arizona played along. "What'd you say?"

"French. But that's not the point. Why would he ask me what my favorite food was? Like, he read that's some good icebreaker from some internet handbook that was handed out at the loser fair?"

"I, uh...I don't know," Arizona replied slowly, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"My point is that dating sucks. And you and Callie clearly want to date each other, so you should both get your heads out of your asses and do something about it."

"Geez, you need to get laid," Arizona mumbled.

"Yeah? So do you," Teddy said with a smirk, before marching out of the office, leaving a pouting blonde in her wake.

**o0o0o**

The following day, Callie still hadn't encountered the blonde to giver her an answer. She was walking down the language hall and her pace quickened as she saw Arizona slip gracefully through the teachers' lounge door. Intent on finally giving the impatient and frustrated blonde an answer, she hurried through the same door, sighing when she saw they weren't alone. The Latina busied herself with making a coffee and smiled politely at Arizona and the other two teachers. Taking a seat opposite Arizona's couch, Callie rifled through her bag, trying to futilely to find something to occupy her time. She finally found a half-completed sudoku at the bottom of her bag and pulled it out triumphantly.

From across the room, Arizona smirked at the brunette's antics, knowing all too well that she was the only reason Callie had ventured to the faculty lounge. Sensing Arizona's gaze, Callie looked up, which prompted the blonde to blush and return her attention to her students' essays.

All too quickly, Callie had completed her sudoku, yet the two oblivious teachers were still politely bragging about and comparing their children, who had both just entered 1st grade at Parkstone. Rolling her eyes at the pettiness of the conversation, Callie sat back in her seat, no longer interested in keeping up the pretense that she had something productive to be doing. Determined to speak to Arizona, Callie resigned herself to the tedious wait.

When one teacher started explaining how her little Taylor could name all the presidents of the US in order, Callie rolled her eyes and audibly sighed, garnering all three teachers' attention. Arizona released a small giggle, before returning to her work and attempting to stifle her laughter. The other two teachers looked at Callie with obvious disdain before resuming their conversation.

At the beginning of what sounded like a diatribe about how 6-year-old Stephanie was attempting a science experiment, Callie leaped out of her seat, grabbed her bag, and hastily made her way for the door. If she couldn't talk to Arizona in any sort of privacy, she figured she could make more productive use of her break reviewing more footage of past musicals in the AV room in the back of the theater.

After waiting a few moments (to remove any suspicion), Arizona smiled politely at the other two, before hurrying out of the lounge after Callie. She watched with a small smile on her face as Callie slipped through the door of the Fine Arts building. She wanted to know the Latina's answer, but she had to admit this game of cat and mouse they were playing kind of excited her. Sure she could've asked to speak to Callie in private or vice versa, but where's the fun in that?

Walking into the theater, Arizona allowed the bittersweet memories of her own performance history to wash over her. It had been years since the blonde had stepped onto that stage as a performer, rather than an instructor. She didn't like to talk about the past and her 12 years as a student at Parkstone. Not many people knew she was an alumna of the school and she liked it that way. She didn't want fellow faculty members accusing her of receiving any special treatment due to her ties with the institution.

Remembering the reason she was currently standing there, Arizona scanned the dark auditorium quickly, her eyes instantly finding the only source of light coming from the top of the theater through a cracked door. Although she couldn't see her from the outside, Arizona knew that's where the Latina would be. Eager to get to Callie, Arizona took the stairs two at a time and arrived at the top slightly out of breath. She gave herself a moment for her breathing to settle, before slowly pushing the already slightly ajar door open, trying not to startle the brunette.

Callie looked up immediately from the assortment of DVDs she was perusing. Arizona gave her a gentle smile and stepped into the AV booth, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey," Callie spoke gently, suddenly wary of Arizona's silence.

"Hi," Arizona replied, immensely enjoying Callie's apparent hesitation.

"Those damn teachers were just never going to leave, so I came here," Callie offered, unsolicited.

"Why so impatient? Have something you want to say to me?" Arizona's coy smile went completely unnoticed by the increasingly harried brunette.

"Um, yeah."

Arizona's brow rose impossibly higher when Callie didn't continue. Callie gave her a wary smile in return.

"Yeah, well, I just um..."

Arizona's amusement soon turned to mild frustration, and so she turned towards the door, placing a hand on the knob.

"Wait!"

Still facing the door, Arizona smiled to herself. Replacing her grin with a neutral expression, she rotated slowly on her heels.

"I wanted to say that..." Callie began cautiously, but trailed off when Arizona started stalking towards her. When Arizona reached Callie, she placed a hand on either hip, pulling her body flush against the Latina's.

"That?" Arizona asked, her mouth mere centimeters away from Callie's.

"Arizona, what are you doing?"

"We're in a sound-proof room above the auditorium. No one will come up here. What did you want to say?" Arizona asked quickly, her already minimal patience dwindling.

"That, um.." This time Callie's hesitation had nothing to do with her nerves and had everything to do with the proximity of Arizona's plush lips.

Having lost patience entirely, Arizona closed the very tiny gap between them. She ran a hand up Callie's body and tangled her fingers through Callie's thick curls. Bringing Callie's head tantalizingly slowly closer, Arizona lightly took Callie's bottom lip in both of hers. She pulled back and grinned when Callie whimpered, before crashing her lips against Callie's once more. Deepening the kiss, Arizona sucked Callie's bottom lip into her mouth, before stepping back entirely.

"I'm not going to wait forever, Calliope."

Once again, Arizona turned towards the door, but this time Callie's reflexes were a little faster. She grasped Arizona's wrist and tugged her back into their previous position.

"You don't have to wait any longer." A knowing grin spread across Arizona's features. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Arizona shrugged. "You seemed a little nervous, so I thought I'd give you a push."

"So...we're together?"

"We're together," Arizona confirmed with a nod and a smile.

"Which means..." Callie began.

"Which means that we need to be discrete at school, but no more panicking on my part."

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the start of the fourth period of the day. Arizona gave Callie a quick peck on the lips, before turning for a third time towards the door. This time she actually made it all the way before she turned back.

"Oh, and I'm really going to enjoy working with you this winter."

Callie's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, you didn't know? I'm also the interim dance instructor, because Fields is on maternity leave. I can't wait to work with you on the musical!"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Jamie's computer crashed and she had to rewrite her part of the chapter. Also, just to be clear: we totally chose West Side Story as the musical before Glee did. One more thing...we were wayyyyy too tired to look for mistakes so we own up to al of them...sorry if there are mass amounts! OOOOHHHH and PLEASE NOTE the Rating change! here's the sexy time you've all been patiently waiting for :D**

**Chapter 7 **

"Wait, what?" Callie exclaimed breathlessly, running through the door of the AV room to follow the blonde's retreating form.

Arizona stopped abruptly and cocked her head as she turned. "I'm a dance instructor," she added with a smile as if it were obvious.

"For my musical..." Callie was entirely unamused. After years of being bossed around on Broadway, she had been excited to have sole artistic direction over the musical and let her true creative soul shine.

Arizona's left brow rose as a smirk spread across her face. "Your musical, huh?"

Callie bit back a cringe. "Our...musical," she managed to say through gritted teeth.

The blonde's eyes shone with undisguised mirth; she was thoroughly enjoying how frazzled Callie was getting with each passing second.

"Don't worry, Calliope. I'm _just_the dance instructor."

"I know. I _know,_" Callie acquiesced. "I'm not good at sharing," she confessed.

Arizona's raised her impeccably shaped brow even higher. "Sharing? Are we five?"

"Oh, you know what I meant," Callie scolded.

"I'm the dance instructor, Callie. I won't be stepping on your toes."

Callie snickered before softening at Arizona's obvious and lame pun. "We're doing West Side Story," she said in concession.

"I _love_West Side Story!"

Unable to stay even remotely annoyed in the presence of Arizona's gleaming blue eyes and dangerous dimples, Callie bumped her hip against the smaller woman's. "I think we might make a good team."

"Oh, we're going to make an awesome team!"

Without realizing it, the pair found themselves nearing the double doors which led to the upper school building.

"Hey, before we go in, I was wondering what you're doing on Friday."

"We have an away game at St. Mary's and then I'm free for the rest of the evening."

"Oh, St. Mary's is right by my house. Come by after the game and I'll make you dinner?"

Arizona crinkled her nose, prompting Callie's butterflies to begin rumbling in her stomach for the third time that day.

"Or...not. That's fine, too," she backtracked.

"Callie," Arizona giggled. "I want to. I'm just going to be all sweaty from the game, and that's just gross. I'd only want to get sweaty _with_you, not show up already sweaty." She paused to cock her head adorably to the side when she realized what she was saying, while I light blush spread up her neck. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to run home after the game and get a shower and then come over?"

"Sounds good," Callie answered, while holding the door open for the blonde. When Arizona passed by, Callie subtly leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "I definitely would not mind getting sweaty with you."

Arizona shivered involuntarily, before muttering a weak "thanks" to Callie for holding the door for her. Yes, she admitted to herself, she was pretty damn excited for Friday night.

**o0o0o**

Arizona moaned as the flavors of Callie's famous Chicken Piccata swirled over her taste buds. "This is _so_delicious."

"I know," Callie replied with a cheeky grin. Trying to focus on anything but Arizona's continued moans of pleasure, Callie switched the subject. "So who won the game tonight?"

Arizona paused, her forkful of capers and chicken stopping mid-shovel. With her mouth still hanging in open in preparation for the next delicious morsel, Arizona raised both eyebrows dramatically towards the ceiling.

"Seriously?"

Callie smiled, mockingly apologetic. "Oh, St. Mary's won, didn't they?"

"As if," Arizona replied around the forkful of food that had now made its way into her mouth. "We won 6-1," she said with no pretense of modesty.

"Oh wow, you only beat them by five goals? What went wrong?"

Unamused by Callie's mocking, Arizona shrugged. "I only ever let the team have a five point lead. I don't want to totally crush the opponent, so I tell the girls not to shoot on goal unless the other team scores first."

"Of course you do," Callie laughed. She had to admire the combination of Arizona's unabashed competitive spirit and her caring nature.

"Riley was amazing today. She had two goals and three assists. That girl is definitely going places. Colleges have begun sending scouts to our games just for her."

"She does seem pretty amazing," Callie agreed. "How is she doing...personally?"

"I don't know," Arizona replied with a sigh. "She talks to me fairly infrequently, and even when she does, I feel like I'm no help whatsoever. But she's not doing great, I can tell you that."

"Hey," Callie said softly, reaching across the table to take the blonde's hand in hers. "I'm sure she appreciates talking to you more than you realize."

"I just wish I could do more."

"I know. But you're helping her. I know you are."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

Regretting the abrupt shift the conversation took, Arizona pulled her hand away from Callie's, and sat back in her chair with a large grin on her face. She patted her stomach and hummed in pleasure.

"Seriously, I can't get over how good dinner was. When did you learn to cook like that?"

Callie nodded her head towards the living room, indicating that they should continue their conversation there, so Arizona took a seat on the couch with a glass of white wine in her hand. The brunette followed suit with a glass of red wine and sat down next to her on the couch so their knees were touching. Callie had opened her windows slightly to let a gentle breeze from the crisp night air float through the house.

"My mother began teaching me and my sister to cook when we were little girls, and every Sunday until I left for college it was our ritual. We had a great time."

Arizona listened intently as Callie regaled her with tales from her childhood. As the evening progressed, it seemed the more wine they consumed, the more their bodies began to gravitate towards one another. Suddenly feeling flushed, Arizona stood up and excused herself to use the restroom. She needed to regain her composure before going back out there because if she didn't, she would lose any semblance of self-control she might have had. When she opened the door, Callie was no longer on the couch. Instead the Latina had moved to the kitchen to begin cleaning up from dinner. The blonde walked over to the doorway leading into the kitchen and silently watched Callie move gracefully about the space. Arizona was all about making the first move and remaining in control of the situation at hand, but around Callie it was a different story. As much as she loved being in control, right now she wouldn't mind if the brunette threw her up against a wall and took her right there.

Arizona was brought out of her thoughts when she realized she had been spotted and Callie was moving towards her and stopped about an inch away from her, their breath now intermingling as one. It was as if she had read the blonde's mind, because the next thing she knew, Arizona was being thrust against the wall behind her as one strong arm wrapped around her waist, and the other had found a fistful of blonde curls to grasp. It was a fully unexpected assault, but Arizona considerably liked the change of pace.

Callie's tongue grazed the smaller woman's bottom lip and Arizona welcomed it as their mouths  
>melded together in a flawless tango. Arizona's hands groped the brunette, beginning at the base of her neck and trailing down to the base of her spine where they came to rest of the soft, yet firm flesh she found there. When they couldn't take the loss of air anymore, they pulled apart, yet their bodies still flush against one another. Callie began to kiss the blonde's neck and whispered in her ear, "Bedroom?"<p>

It was more of a statement than a question but all Arizona could do was bite her lip and moan her response as Callie hit a particularly sensitive spot just below her ear. The brunette smiled and reached down to take hold of her lover's hand to guide her down the hallway.

Once inside the dimly lit room, Arizona went to let go of Callie's hand and walk towards the bed, but Callie tugged the blonde against her, running her hands down the sides of the smaller woman's slender frame. Arizona looked up into obsidian eyes and smiled, tilting her head slightly to the side and smiling as her lips met the Latina's in a sensual kiss. Callie's hands met silky skin as they travelled underneath the material of Arizona's shirt. She lifted the shirt above the blonde's head and tossed it to the floor, admiring the sight in front of her. Arizona returned the favor and slowly rid the brunette of her top. Their skin touched for the first time and both women let out a small gasp at the amazing feeling. Their lips met in a hungry kiss as Callie gently guided Arizona towards the bed.

The back of Arizona's knees came in contact with the bed, and she sat down on the edge. Callie moved to stand in between her legs as the blonde placed gentle kisses across the canvas of caramel skin in front of her. Arizona got up onto her knees to kiss her lover while her hands fumbled with the button and zipper of Callie's jeans. It didn't help her concentration when Callie sucked on a patch of skin on her neck. Arizona moaned and finally got Callie out of her jeans. Once she stepped out of the legs, Callie pushed Arizona down on the bed and covered the smaller woman's body with her own.

Callie shifted her weight to the left of Arizona and situated a leg in between the blonde's, putting pressure where she needed it the most. The blonde lifted her hips, wanting Callie to remove the barriers between them and the brunette happily obliged, while Arizona reached behind and unclasped her bra, tossing it to the side. Her jeans and panties were removed in one fell swoop, and Callie sat back on her heels to look at the beautiful woman in front of her. Even in the low light, a soft blush had crept over Arizona's body. Her pink nipples were pert from the cool air, and her forehead was now coated with a thin sheen of sweat. Her breathing was labored from the intense kisses they shared and as Callie gazed at her, she knew Arizona in an aroused state was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen.

As she scooted back up to face the blonde, she made sure to drop open mouthed kisses on various places along the way. Once face to face again, Callie noticed Arizona's eyes had become a deep indigo and she leaned down, mere centimeters from the blonde's lips.

"You are so beautiful," Callie whispered reverently as she captured Arizona's lips between hers in a searing kiss. Arizona responded emphatically and reached around to the clasp of Callie's bra, letting it slide from her shoulders to join the other garments strewn about the room. Arizona brought her hands to Callie's breasts and kneaded them both gently, rubbing her thumbs across already erect nipples. Callie tore her lips away from Arizona to let out an audible gasp, which prompted the blonde to take a nipple into her mouth and bite down, eliciting a cry of pleasure from the Latina.

Arizona lavished the other breast before using her body to flip them over so she was now on top. Callie enjoyed this change and let the lithe woman take over control. Arizona kissed a line from Callie's jaw, down her neck and between the valley of her breasts. Her hands travelled down to the hips gyrating beneath her and her thumbs hooked under the material of the panties, pulling them down Callie's toned and tanned legs. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she slid her hands back up to rest against either thigh, pushing them apart. She looked up at Callie, who was currently panting and staring down at the blonde between her legs.

Before Callie knew what was happening, Arizona's tongue was on her where she had needed it the most. Her hips instantly lurched forward against the hot mouth assaulting her, and she felt a tongue slide inside of her.

"Fuck, Arizona!" Callie's normally eloquent voice had been replaced by something she didn't recognize. It was raw, almost animalistic, and Arizona was definitely a fan.

Arizona just smiled against the soft flesh before wrapping her lips around Callie's bundle of nerves, sucking hard, bringing her lover very close to the edge. She felt Callie's hand grab at her hair, not so much to guide her, but to urge her on.

"God, baby, I'm so close. Please. I need you inside of me."

With those pleading words, Arizona slipped two fingers easily inside the writhing brunette and immediately found the spot Callie needed her to hit. With her lips secured around Callie's clit and a few more pumps of her fingers, Arizona had her lover tumbling over the edge with cries of ecstasy.

As Callie's breathing settled, Arizona moved her way up the brunette's body, placing gentle kisses over her flushed skin. After a few moments, she slid her fingers out gently, letting them come to rest on Callie's hip. Without opening her eyes, Callie haphazardly fumbled for the blonde, pulling her to rest on top of her.

"Hi," Arizona giggled, when she came to land.

"Hey," Callie drawled back, her eyes lidded in sated exhaustion.

Trying to mask her disappointment, Arizona placed a gentle kiss on Callie's lips before resting her head on the Latina's shoulder.

"Goodnight, Calliope."

Callie opened one eye to look at the blonde's face and nearly laughed at the undisguised pout she was sporting. In one slick motion, Callie had Arizona on her back, her arms pinned above her head.

"You really thought I was just going to leave you hanging?" Callie teased, her lips ghosting across the shell of Arizona's ear.

"Um...no?" Arizona squeaked.

"Yep, that's right." Callie nipped at Arizona's pulse point. "We're just getting started."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: SO sorry for the delay guys. Emma has been busy with work and school and I had a sudden death in the family so we've been a little distracted lately. We made this chapter longer to appease you all and we're going to try nad get back on schedule from here. Thanks so much for your patience! Also, it's a little field hockey heavy. I kind of got carried away with it, but it sure was fun to write! ENJOY :)**

**Chapter 8**

**Two months later**

"Good morning, sleepy head!"

Callie groaned at the chipper noise and pulled the sides of the pillow up to cover her ears. "Too early."

"Well, it's a big day for both of us, so I made us some yummy and super nutritious breakfast to eat in bed!"

Callie opened one eye a tiny bit, but the narrow slat let enough light in to remind Callie that it was morning, and she promptly squeezed both tightly shut again.

"I have eggs, and cantaloupe and oooh, strawberries! I know how much you love strawberries," the blonde chirped.

Officially awake and frustrated about said fact, Callie stretched her arm up and began blindly fumbling for the blonde's face, poking her nose and cheeks a few times.

"Umm, Calliope? What the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to find the snooze button," the grumpy Latina mumbled.

A jarring peal of laughter rang through the bedroom, prompting Callie to lower her hands and begrudgingly open her eyes.

"So...breakfast?" Callie asked almost apologetically.

"Yep!" Arizona responded, moving the breakfast tray over Callie's lap as the brunette sat up against the headboard.

"You're pretty awesome, even if you do wake me up at ungodly hours of the morning."

"I know!" Arizona replied. She grabbed a strawberry and popped it in her mouth before hopping off the bed. She bounced all the way to the closet into which she disappeared, leaving a very disappointed Callie in bed to eat breakfast alone.

"What are you doing?" Callie asked, when Arizona took far too long for her liking to reappear.

"Looking for my lucky outfit!" Arizona called from the depths of her closet.

"Your lucky shirt is in the dryer with my lucky socks," Callie called back. She would have sounded far more sarcastic if her own outfit and ritual hadn't been just as ridiculous as Arizona's.

In a whirlwind, Arizona raced to the dryer and was back before Callie had even managed to peel the blanket off her unwilling body. When Callie finally stumbled from the bed, she came face to face with Arizona, whose mood had clearly shifted significantly in the short period of time.

"Calliope." Uh oh. This was definitely the bad kind of full-name treatment. Arizona stood in her slacks and a bra, her hands behind her back and her eyes blazing with undisguised fury. Callie swallowed, gulping back both fear and desire.

"Oh shit, did I forget to run the dryer? Is your lucky shirt is wet?"

"No."

"Then what's the prob-" Arizona held up her shirt and Callie's socks. "Oh."

"My crisp, pristine lucky shirt is now _pink_. Someone's stupid lucky _red_ socks were left to bleed all over my lucky _white_shirt, because someone decided they were too lazy to separate the colors!"

"I did separate them! But I needed my lucky socks for today. You know how important first day of auditions are! So I just threw them in at the last minute. I wasn't thinking."

"Well that much was made very clear," Arizona replied before throwing the clothes on the bed and stalking over to her dresser to find another shirt. "And by the way, the final game of the State tournament is pretty damn important, too."

"I wasn't implying that it wasn't..."

"I didn't say that you were. I just thought that maybe you could have thought about that before you threw red socks into a load of whites." Arizona pulled a grey turtleneck over her head as she ranted.

"Arizona, you're a great coach. You don't need a lucky shirt to - "

"Oh-ho no. You don't get to give me this lecture when you would be freaking out just as much I am right now if your precious lucky socks had been ruined."

As much as she hated this petty fighting, Callie had to marvel at Arizona's ability to weave her hair into perfect braids and apply make-up all in the course of their argument.

"I'm really sorry, Arizona, but - "

"But nothing. You have fun in your perfect auditions while I try to win a State final without any luck on my side."

With that, Arizona rushed out of her house, slamming the door behind her. Callie sat back on the bed with a heavy sigh and put on her crimson socks.

**o0o0o**

Arizona stormed through the door of her office, shrugging off her coat and tugging at the sleeves of her turtleneck. She had never won a state title without her lucky white shirt and here she was wearing _grey. _Grey wasn't the color of champions. It's dreary and sad and represented everything Arizona was not.

She sat down at her desk, reviewing her playbook and reading over notes from the last time they faced Camden Collegiate. Camden had always been a tough opponent, but out of the 17 times they'd faced each other, the Prep had 16 wins. The only loss they suffered was Arizona's second season as coach. When States had rolled around, she had opted for a crimson shirt instead of white that year, and thus her superstition was born. Not having her lucky white shirt today had added more pressure and stress on the blonde that she certainly didn't need.

Arizona's bad luck began early. It started with a cup of coffee that she subsequently spilled on her playbook. When lunchtime came, she went to open a ketchup packet, and it squirted all over her face and hair, resulting in a midday shower in the locker rooms. Then the hairdryer, which she kept in her locker, decided to short in the socket, leaving her standing in front of the mirror with dripping wet hair and a scowl on her face. She re-braided her hair and returned to her office to try and decipher through the crumpled mess that was her playbook.

When she didn't think her day could get any worse, a small knock on her door brought her out of her deep concentration.

"Hey Coach Robbins. May I come in?"

"Hi Riley. Sure come on in and have a seat."

"So um, I have some news for you and you're not going to be happy."

"Riley, my day can't get much worse, so whatever it is, just tell me." Arizona was beyond frustrated at this point and didn't bother to hide it. She dropped her pen and hung her head in her hands before looking back up at Riley, folding her hands neatly in front of her and letting out a loud breath.

"I just got detention from Ms. Halstead. For this afternoon. I forgot my English homework at home and I guess she was having a bad day too, because she gave me an automatic detention. I told her we had state finals today and begged her to let me serve it next week, but she insisted I needed to learn from my mistakes and accept the punishment. Isn't there _anything_you can do? I'm a senior! This is the last time I will ever play on those fields. Please Coach Robbins. Please talk to her." Tears were streaming down Riley's face as she attempted to get her breathing under control.

Arizona blankly stared at the girl sitting in front of her. She was torn between being mad at the student for being so careless as to forget her homework and being even more pissed off at Ms. Halstead for giving this 'A' student detention for missing _one_assignment.

"Riley, I will speak to Ms. Halstead and the Headmaster about letting you play today, but as for serving detention, you will most certainly make it up next week if I can get you out of it this afternoon."

"Thank you so much, Coach Robbins! I promise this won't ever happen again!" Riley had the biggest smile on her face, and Arizona knew how much this competition meant to her. After all the bullying she'd endured so far this school year, Riley needed something good to come out of her senior year. If they won this afternoon, Arizona knew it would be a memory she would always carry with her.

As Riley scurried out the door, Arizona called after her.

"Hey Riley?"

"Yes, Coach?" Riley returned to the doorway and looked at her mentor.

"Don't make a habit out of this. It's your senior year and I don't want to see you slacking off. We know you're headed to Maryland on a hockey scholarship next year, but your skills on the field won't last forever. You'll need that brain of yours to fall back on, and I expect nothing less than excellence from you, young lady."

Riley smiled, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She has never had someone believe in her as much as Arizona did and that was one person she definitely didn't want to disappoint.

"Yes ma'am. Thanks again, coach."

Arizona dropped her head on her desk with a thud. She had never been this unprepared or unfocused for a game, let alone a state title.

_I could really use a cigarette right now…_

"You smoke?"

The blonde looked up to see her girlfriend standing in the doorway. She hadn't even realized she had said that out loud.

"I know. It's awful, but I only do it very rarely when I know I'm about to be in trouble. Like this afternoon when we lose the state title."

Callie walked in the office and and closed the door behind her. She walked over and knelt down between Arizona's legs, engulfing her lover in a hug.

"Baby, I'm really sorry about your shirt. Truly I am. But I promise you don't need some shirt to win states. You're amazing."

Arizona scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You've got your precious, lucky red socks. I've got a grey turtleneck. It's like the color of doom and failure."

Callie leaned back from the embrace and smiled at the pout the blonde was giving her.

"Tell you what. After auditions end, why don't I come out to the game and cheer on my beautiful girlfriend to her next state title?"

Arizona rolled her eyes. "Fine, but when we lose I get to sulk as long as I need to and you don't get to say a word when I constantly tell you 'I told you so'."

Callie grinned and leaned in to place a quick kiss on Arizona's lips and then her forehead.

She turned to leave, but Arizona spoke up before the brunette could open the door.

"Tell me I'm great."

Callie spun around and looked quizzically at her girlfriend.

"What?"

"I need for you to tell me that I'm great."

Callie walked over to where Arizona still sat and placed her fingertips under the blonde's chin to shift her sad eyes to meet her own.

"You're...great."

"I mean, really tell me. Because I'm about to go out there in an hour and attempt to coach the most talented team I've ever had to another state title but I'm not prepared at all. I can't go out there thinking we've already lost. I can't go out there feeling like...this. So, I need you to tell me I'm great. Make me hear it."

Callie motioned for Arizona to stand and as she did so the brunette placed a hand on either side of the smaller woman's face, stroking her cheekbones with her thumbs and pulling her in for another, deeper kiss. When she pulled back, she looked into those bright blue eyes.

"You are great. You. Are. Great."

Taking a deep breath, Arizona leaned into Callie's touch.

"Thank you."

**o0o0o**

Aside from her petty (or at least so she believed) spat with Arizona over laundry that morning, Callie had been having a relatively decent day. She had graded her students' film projects in record time and had organized a schedule for the afternoon's auditions. She believed she'd given a decent pep talk to her frazzled girlfriend. With her lucky socks on, she was cautiously optimistic about the rest of her day.

That was until her fourth straight hour of auditions.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Callie crossed out another name on her seemingly endless list of Maria wannabes. If she heard one more off-key rendition of "I Feel Pretty", she was going to scream. Tony and the supporting roles were easy to cast, and barring any call back disasters, Callie felt confident that her list was almost complete.

Callie called the name for the last hopeful Maria warily. A petite blonde stepped on stage and waved timidly, before taking her spot downstage.

"So, what will you be singing?"

"My Favorite Things."

Before Callie had a chance to question the girl's choice, the student launched into song. The girl had talent, Callie could not deny that, but she was _so_totally wrong for the part. Callie clapped politely when the blonde finished her last chorus.

"So, um, I wanted to say this before you started, but...My Favorite Things?"

Callie raised her eyebrow and she could have sworn she saw the girl's knees start to quake.

"Uh, yeah, it's a quintessential Maria song. I kind of thought it would be perfect," the scared, albeit sincere, student replied.

"It would be perfect for Maria Von Trapp, but I'm casting Maria Nunez currently...from West Side Story."

"West Side Story," she parroted quietly.

"You have a great voice. Would you mind trying a song more in that style?"

Looking up briefly to meet Callie's gaze with her now watery eyes, she gave two quick shakes of her head before fleeing the stage.

"Really?" Callie asked no one in particular. Sighing, she slammed her binder shut and glanced at her watch, realizing she'd have time to catch the last bit of Arizona's game. She lifted her eyes skywards, praying that Arizona had stolen her luck, and headed out to the field.

**o0o0o**

After not much persuasion, Arizona managed to convince Headmaster Clayton to allow Riley to play in the state finals. She told him Riley was an integral member of the team and if she didn't play it would most likely rob this great institution of a state title and she knew that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Arizona watched the bright orange balls pass effortlessly through short blades of grass and heard the sound of graphite sticks coming together with a smack. This was her symphony, music to her ears. She was certain she would never tire from hearing these sounds. No matter how bad of a day she had, she could walk onto this field and become instantly calm. Today, however, was not one of those days.

As she watched her girls warm-up, she ran through her new playbook, attempting to conjure up any morsel of photographic memory left in her brain to write down plays, positions, and strengths and weaknesses. She rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh. This was the best it was going to get. She felt a sickness, more of a nervousness in the pit of her stomach that made her hot all over. She knew this feeling. She didn't like it.

The referee blew her whistle and called the coaches and captains to the center of the field. Arizona walked with Riley and Harper to the center circle and shook hands with the opposing teams' captains and coach. Arizona smiled politely and having the home team advantage, Riley called the coin in midair.

"Heads."

"Heads it is. Who gets possession of the ball first?"

The young girl looked towards Arizona. With one look from her coach, Riley knew this was her call.

"We'll take it."

Arizona smiled. So far things were going well.

As the girls huddled up for their final time, Arizona felt a lump in the back of her throat. She was connected to all of her players, but Riley was special. This was an emotional scene for everyone.

Arizona called out the starting players and crimson jerseys took the field.

After 4 solid minutes of yelling at the girls to step up their game, she heard the sweet sound of a ball smacking the backboard of the goal.

Unfortunately, it was the wrong goal. Camden had drawn the first blood. As the scoreboard lit up 0-1, Arizona felt herself tugging at the sleeves of her turtleneck again. She wished she was wrapped in comforting white cotton, but she couldn't keep dwelling on that.

She saw the renewed fire in Riley's eyes as they took the center of the field again. The second the ball was on Riley's stick, she drove it down the field to one of her teammates. She sprinted towards the goal and as Harper crossed the ball in front of the goalie, Riley cherry-picked it right between the defenders legs and into the goal. Arizona fist-pumped the air, and loosened her grip on her sleeves.

By the time the horn sounded, signaling halftime, the score was tied 2-2. Arizona gave these girls the pep talk of their lives. She pointed out some of the errors they were making and highlighted some of the better skills of their play. Harper and Riley led a cheer and when the ref blew the whistle for the second half, the girls were completely pumped.

Not even a minute passed by before Arizona heard another ball against wood. Camden had scored yet again.

**o0o0o**

As Callie approached the field, she noticed two things. First, the score board read 2-3. Away. Second, while talking to a player on the sideline, Arizona was wearing _that _smile: the smile she reserved for annoying parents, who didn't understand why their precious son was failing French when he left the classroom with an "adios" every day.

Not wanting to distract the blonde, Callie took a spot behind several overzealous hockey moms, whose constant jumping and waving of arms would likely hide her. She smiled politely at the parents and cheered and booed when they did. Although she had learned some hockey etiquette from Arizona's incessant babble on the matter, she still thought the referees waved their hands at random and that many of the rules were arbitrary. One thing was certain though: there were a bunch of blue jerseys in the crimson half of the field, and that did not bode will for The Prep.

Though not a hockey fan in the slightest, Callie's stress levels were reaching an all-time high as she watched the scoreboard ceaselessly tick down the seconds. She knew how much was at stake. Though Arizona wasn't going anywhere for one championship loss, it couldn't help her standing at The Prep. Not to mention Arizona was a proud woman; she would take this loss personally. Callie groaned audibly at the thought.

With the last few seconds counting down on the clock, the score was tied 3-3 and the game was now about to be decided by strokes. Arizona looked down her roster and chose her five best strikers hoping this would be enough to keep the title.

It was a battle of all battles. When The Prep scored, Camden scored. When The Prep missed, so did Camden. Arizona was peering over her playbook, unable to contain her nerves any more. Her last and strongest striker took the field. Camden had just missed their last stroke, so if Riley made this, they won the game.

Riley stood in place for a second, calculating her decision to go left or right. High or low. When the whistle blew, the ball went sailing through the air. It flew past the goalie on their right side and landed directly in the netting behind her. She had chosen to go stick side. The hardest shot to pull off on a stroke and she had done it.

The moment the Panthers saw the net bow out from behind, all 18 girls shot off the ground in a celebratory jump. Riley sprinted as fast as she could to her teammates, tears of happiness streaming down her face. Arizona's playbook landed on the grass as she fell to her knees. She couldn't believe they had actually won. Something told her to look up and when she did, she caught brown eyes staring at her from across the field. She choked out a cry and clapped her hand over her mouth as she stood up and shook her head in disbelief. Callie's grin broadened when she knew Arizona spotted her.

Riley and all the other girls ran to Arizona and took turns hugging her. They lined up and shook hands with Camden before returning to their bench to grab their gear and meet with their parents.

All Arizona wanted to do was run into Callie's arms and kiss her. As she strode across the field towards the brunette, she couldn't have stopped the smile that spread across her face even if she wanted to. They met somewhere in the middle of the field, both grinning widely at each other. When Callie realized how awkward they looked, she offered her hand for Arizona to shake. The ecstatic blonde bit back a laugh and took her proffered hand.

"Good game, Coach Robbins. I believe I'm the one who gets to say 'I told you so'."

"I've never been more happy to hear those words," Arizona said, releasing Callie's hand. "My good luck charm," she murmured under her breath.

Riley walked past Arizona and winked at the pair of women, grinning like a fool.

"Looks like you won a lot more than a state title, Coach Robbins."

Arizona winked back at Riley before the young girl walked away towards the award ceremony table.

The blonde looked back at Callie and whispered, "I certainly did, didn't I?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: We've been super busy. I just got a new job and Emma is heading into finals, so the chapters will be fewer and farther between. We threw around the word 'hiatus', but especially after the ridiculously long hiatus Grey's is giving us, we don't think that will be quite necessary. We appreciate your patience, though! We cut out some of this chapter to put in the next chapter instead, so hopefully it won't be too, too long before that's up.**

**Chapter 9**

After the quick awards ceremony, Riley and the girls invited Arizona out to dinner with them in celebration of their victory. Arizona was reluctant to accept, partly because she thought it would be a great bonding opportunity for the girls since it was their last team meal, but mainly because she wanted to take Callie home and rip off her clothes.

Riley saw the look of uncertainty on Arizona's face, so she turned to Callie and spoke.

"Ms. Torres, you should come too! You've been such a big supporter of us since the beginning of the season, we all feel like you're a member of them team anyway."

"Oh, I don't know, guys..." Callie started, glancing to Arizona for some sort of guidance. The blonde stood stoically, curious herself what Callie's response would be.

"Come on, Ms. Torres! Please!" Various girls echoed Riley's pleas. "We're going to Campetti's!"

"Alright, alright, fine!" Callie said with a laugh. "You should have led with Campetti's. You coming, Coach?"

"I could never resist Campetti's! I'm totally in!" Arizona placed her arms around two of the players' shoulders to resist the urge to touch Callie as she ushered her team off the field.

**o0o0o**

Sitting back in her seat, Callie watched the young girls chat animatedly with each other and with their coach. She had to wonder how the group of twenty still had so much energy after that strenuous, harrowing game. She was exhausted just from watching. As much as she enjoyed seeing the playful side of her girlfriend, she wanted nothing more than to cuddle in bed with the blonde far, far away from the prying eyes of Prep students. Callie had also underestimated the sheer amount of noise twenty boisterous and excited teenagers could make. The brunette idly thought that if she were able to transform the noise into notes, she could really use this level of energy and volume in West Side Story.

As if reading her thoughts, one player turned to Callie. "Ms. Torres, how is casting going for the musical?"

"Pretty good, Abby. I still have a few spots open, though, so if you guys still have any sort of voice left tomorrow, you should come out to the auditions!"

"Does it matter if we've never done any sort of acting before?" Emily asked from across the table.

Ignoring the look of terror that crossed Riley's face, Callie answered her, "Umm, no, anyone is allowed to try out, and you never know, you might just be a natural talent."

Emily smiled, trying futilely to hide her excitement. She always wanted to be in the spotlight and since Riley always stole it from her on the field, this might be her shot. Ms. Torres didn't have to know that she had been taking voice lessons since she could talk.

"Then I will see you tomorrow at auditions! Thanks, Ms. Torres." Emily went back to talking with her teammates and Callie settled into her chair, secretly hoping this girl had some hidden pipes because with the way auditions were going, she wasn't sure if there would be a show at all.

**o0o0o**

Callie had barely turned the deadbolt, when she felt her back being slammed against the door and fingers twisting painfully against the lock.

"Jesus, Arizona! I could have broken a nail," Callie whined, but the way she was biting her lip suggested that she cared very little about possible nail breakage.

"I just won States despite all odds, and I wanted to thank my lucky charm, and you're worried about your nail?"

"Mmmm, no, not when you put it that way," Callie gritted out, barely comprehending anything other than the nimble fingers that were already playing with her waistband.

Sliding her hands up the smaller woman's torso, Callie wasted no time in ripping the blonde's gray turtleneck.

"Hey! I liked that shirt!" Arizona's pout only urged Callie on in ridding the smaller woman of the impeding garment.

"Liar."

Before Arizona could protest the remark, Callie's lips crashed against the blonde's in a frenzied passion. Her hands wove through golden tresses, as she smoothly twirled them around to gain more power. When she was able to grab a fist full of hair, Callie yanked her lover's head to one side to gain access to the creamy skin on the blonde's neck. She thrust a leg between Arizona's and rolled her hips, shoving Arizona's back against the wall.

Arizona moaned loudly and she attempted to shift their positions, her gray turtleneck still hanging loosely around her frame. She slipped her hands between them and yanked it the rest of the way off, before making quick work of Callie's pants and her own.

Callie's hands ran down the backs of Arizona's thighs and gripped just above the curve in her lover's knee. Arizona took the hint and jumped up, wrapping her long, slender legs around the brunette's waist, squeezing tightly as Callie supported Arizona's weight against the wall.

"You're always in control," Callie murmured against Arizona's pulse point.

"What?" Arizona breathed out, continuing to rock her pelvis against Callie.

Callie trailed a hand down the blonde's rib cage, enjoying the goosebumps that appeared in its wake. When her hand reached Arizona's hip, she pushed the lean body against the wall.

"I said," Callie started in a menacingly low voice, "that you're always in control. You control every situation. I think it's why you became a teacher, because you love to control the classroom and the field." Callie bit down softly on Arizona's neck, before flattening her tongue over the bruising area. She wrapped her arms around Arizona's back and swiftly unhooked her bra. "You even try to control luck. And you couldn't, could you?"

Only half-listening, Arizona shook her head and ran a hand through Callie's dark locks, attempting to bring the Latina in for a kiss. Callie reared her head backwards.

"Could you?" Callie repeated more forcefully.

"No," Arizona replied, once again trying to kiss her lover.

"That's right," Callie purred, rewarding Arizona with a much-anticipated kiss. Callie traced her tongue along Arizona's bottom lip before pulling away.

"Do you trust me?"

"Um, yes. Yes, Calliope, you know I do," Arizona said, confusion evident in her furrowed brow and wide eyes.

"Get down," Callie demanded softly. As soon as Arizona complied and her feet touched the ground, Callie pulled her panties off and threw them nonchalantly to the side. Without speaking, Callie covered Arizona's body with her own, pushing the smaller woman against the wall once again.

"Okay, this is the part where you have to trust me," Callie said, sliding her hands under Arizona's thighs and catching her eye.

"Okay," the blonde nodded, the anticipation speeding her heartbeat and making her shiver.

In one fluid motion, Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona's backside and lifted her so that her legs were even with Callie's breasts.

"Whoa!" Arizona shrieked in surprise.

"Put your legs over my shoulders."

"Callie...I can't...you can't support...and...and you're standing..." Arizona stuttered, her breathing becoming more and more shallow as she fully realized her predicament.

"I've got you, I promise, but I need you to put your legs over my shoulders," Callie commanded firmly, all too aware that her arms would give out if Arizona didn't do as she was told soon.

As Arizona hesitantly hoisted one leg over Callie's shoulder, the brunette used her now free hand to reach up Arizona's torso, applying more support higher up her body. Feeling a bit more secure with Callie's hand pressed firmly against her ribcage, Arizona pulled her other leg up and over Callie's shoulder. She whimpered at the sudden lack of support, but relaxed when Callie shifted her other hand to Arizona's hip, pushing her as securely into the wall as possible.

"I've got you," Callie said, kissing the inside of Arizona's thigh with soothing comfort.

Unsure what to do with her hands, Arizona placed both over the one on her ribs to remind herself of the strength of the woman currently holding her up nearly five feet off the ground.

Soon Callie's soothing kisses became more insistent as her mouth reached it's ultimate destination. Callie's tongue snaked out and licked a path up the crease between Arizona's leg and her pelvis.

The blonde whimpered, "Please, Callie." Adrenaline mixed with feral desire pooled between Arizona's legs as she dug her heels into Callie's back. Callie grinned, feeling Arizona's muscles tense beneath her hands, this time out of desire rather than fear. She ran her tongue along the blonde's hot slit, flicking her tongue over the swollen nub a few times in quick repetition.

Arizona dropped one hand to her side, palm flat against the wall. She used it as leverage to thrust her hips towards Callie's protruding tongue. "Fuck," she breathed, when Callie rewarded her by slipping her tongue into her core.

Callie snuck her hand out from Arizona's clenched one and reached up to palm Arizona's breast. She rolled Arizona's nipple with nimble fingers while simultaneously twisting her tongue to hit one of the blonde's favorite spots.

"Oh...my god," Arizona groaned. Her nails raked against the wall in an attempt to hold on to something. Her hips rolled forward involuntarily, seeking a deeper, harder rhythm. Callie brought her hand down from Arizona's breast to steady her hips. She pushed her forcefully into the wall, breaking contact momentarily, before plunging her tongue in once more. She felt Arizona's walls begin to tighten around her tongue and Arizona's hand grasp a section of her hair.

As if on a cue, Arizona gasped, "God, I'm so close."

"Come for me," Callie demanded, before sliding her tongue over the blonde's clit and sucking on the overly sensitive organ.

"Yes...keep...keep doing that." Arizona pulled on Callie's hair, attempting to bring the brunette impossibly closer to her.

Callie complied and sucked and bit and licked until she felt Arizona's thighs clench against her head, hips jerk forward, and hand grasp at tendrils before falling limp in her hair. Arizona moaned loudly and unintelligibly before sagging against the wall, panting heavily.

With two steady hands at Arizona's hips, Callie dipped her shoulder down, letting Arizona's leg fall against the wall. She replicated the motion on the other side and gently guided Arizona to a sitting position on the floor, where she knelt before her. While the blonde silently regained composure, Callie reached around to rub her own shoulders, relieving built up tension. Arizona rolled her head to the side to glance up at Callie through half-lidded eyes.

"Let me," she requested softly. Arizona spread her legs and Callie turned so that her back was facing the blonde. As Arizona rubbed strong circles into Callie's muscles and tendons, the brunette moaned in gratitude.

"We might be getting a little too old for this," Callie joked after a few moments of comfortable silence. Arizona softly chuckled and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her lover's shoulder.

"Speak for yourself, old lady," she whispered in her ear, a cheeky grin on her face. "But I do know if we stay on this floor for much longer, we will seriously hate ourselves tomorrow."

Arizona stood and held out her hand for Callie to join her. Before they reached the bedroom door, the blonde stopped and turned to face her lover.

"Plus, I never got to properly thank you for being my good luck charm today."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello everyone :) This will be the last update until after the holiday break! Sorry :( But if you live in the states, we hope you and your loved ones have a safe and very happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy :)**

**Chapter 10**

"Next!" Callie bellowed, so that the person waiting in the wings could hear her.

"Oh, hey, Emily," Callie said with a tight smile as the young brunette walked on stage. "What are you going to sing for us?"

"Somewhere," Emily replied shyly.

"Okay, go ahead."

The young brunette took a shaky breath, expelling a low, breathy note. At the first chorus, she grew stronger and more confident with each passing second. She kept her eyes trained on the exit sign, not daring to look at Callie as she made her way through the verse. Her pure, lyrical tone sent the notes of the second chorus soaring through the room. Having hit her stride, she finished the piece with a loud, resolute note.

"Well, you certainly have a great instrument," Callie said, after letting the final note hang in the air.

"Thank you," Emily replied with humble gratitude.

"Do you know what the song's about?"

"Um, I know that the musical's kinda like Romeo and Juliet and Maria and Tony sing it, because they know they can't be together. The warring gangs are too narrow-minded to see that they love each other and that's all that matters."

Biting the sarcastic remark she desperately wanted to make, Callie replied, "Well, you're on the right track. The first time the song comes up in the musical is right after Maria finds out that Tony has killed her brother. Of course, she's angry, but she knows it's a casualty of the war between the two gangs and not Tony's fault. The second time Maria sings it is when she's holding a dying Tony in her arms. Why don't you sing it again with that in mind?"

Emily nodded and closed her eyes, beginning the haunting tune over again. When she opened her eyes, she took a risk by looking directly at Callie, infusing as much emotion into the words and notes as she could. As she began the last refrain, she let a single tear slip down her cheek. Neither Callie nor Emily was sure whether the young girl was simply a phenomenal actress or whether the meaning behind the song was affecting her. By the end of the last chorus, Emily's voice grew quieter, and eventually the last note faded away into the air.

"Wow," Callie said, after letting the note hang in the air. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

**o0o0o**

"Hey!" Arizona shouted from her place in the kitchen, when she heard her front door open.

"Hey," Callie drawled, narrowing her eyes as she walked in to see Arizona attempting to cook.

Arizona rolled her eyes. "I can cook pasta, Calliope. You don't have to look so worried."

Without replying, Callie dipped a wooden spatula into the meat sauce that was gently simmering on the stove top. She blew on the steaming sauce, before taking a bite. Nodding in concession, she decided that maybe Arizona in the kitchen was not the worst thing in the world.

"So?" Arizona asked expectantly.

"The sauce is pretty good. I would have added just a touch of oregano, but..."

"You know I'm not talking about the sauce!" Arizona interrupted her.

"Well," Callie began slowly.

"We don't have a Maria yet, do we?" Arizona pouted.

"We so do have a Maria!" Callie couldn't contain the grin that spread quickly across her face. "She's perfect. Wonderful, pure voice. It took a bit, but she's a great actress."

"Yay!" Arizona clapped her hands, before immediately returning to her spaghetti sauce. "So who is it?"

"Emily," Callie replied nonchalantly while grabbing some plates to set the table.

Arizona turned on her heel with a cocked eyebrow. "Emily Gussack?"

"Mmmhmm," Callie mumbled, before noisily taking silverware from its drawer.

"Interesting." Arizona busied herself draining the pasta and pouring both the spaghetti and the sauce into bowls.

When she said nothing else, Callie stopped what she was doing to watch the blonde. "Interesting?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised she's so good, but if you think she's right for the role, then I'm sure she is."

"That's it?"

"Okay, look," Arizona said while turning to face Callie, "do I want to punish Emily for bullying Riley? Of course I do. But Riley has explicitly asked me not to do anything. If Emily is the obvious choice, I think you have to pick her."

"Sometimes I hate this school," Callie muttered.

**o0o0o**

A group of eager students gathered around the bulletin board, all pushing and shoving their way to the front to catch a glimpse of the cast list. In the back stood Riley and Emily on opposite sides of the crowd. Riley looked up and caught the eye of her ex-best friend and mouthed, "good luck" with a smile. Her smile faded, however, when the brunette rolled her eyes and surged forward towards the all important piece of paper hanging on the wall.

Riley blinked back the tears she swore she had stopped shedding and with her head held high, she walked through the now dissipating flock. She found her name quickly, because she knew to look pretty far down the list. She had been cast as a girlfriend of one of the Jets and a chorus member. Neither disappointed nor surprised about her role, she searched the list for the main characters. Her eyes landed squarely on "Maria...Emily Gussack".

"Oh my god," she breathed, turning to see Emily squeal and jump up and down with her friends.

Riley could not figure out what hurt more: the fact that she would have to watch from afar as Emily portrayed Maria every day or the fact that she was no longer the person Emily ran to when she had happy news to share.

Spinning on her heels to get away from the scene in front of her, Riley ran straight into Callie.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Callie said with a chuckle.

"Oh, um, hey Ms. Torres," Riley mumbled without looking up, before attempting to weave her way around the tall brunette.

Callie caught the girl's elbow before Riley could slip away. Intending to reprimand her for being so flippant, Callie stood the young student in front of her. After taking one glance at her downtrodden face, however, Callie quickly led the young girl down the hall to her office.

"What's wrong?" Callie asked without preamble once they were safely inside her office. From the little knowledge Callie had gleaned about Riley from Arizona, she knew that the young girl was more likely to react to a direct approach.

"Nothing." Okay, so maybe the direct approach wasn't foolproof.

"Riley," Callie countered with a stern voice, not about to concede defeat.

"Look, I'm sorry, Ms. Torres, but some things are personal."

Callie sighed, but nodded her head, not wanting to invade the young girl's privacy. "Just know that my door is always open. I know that you like to talk to Ms. Robbins, but if you ever need a different perspective, I'm here."

Riley smiled gratefully albeit sadly and reached for the door handle. As she twisted the knob, she turned back towards Callie and opened her mouth, inhaling as if to speak, but closing her mouth just as quickly. She turned back, grasping the handle more firmly. After a few seconds, she shook her head and released the knob completely, and turned back towards Callie resolutely.

"Have you ever felt like you don't belong somewhere?"

"Yeah," Callie replied softly, with a small smile.

"Really? But you're so talented, and...and smart, and pretty!" Riley blushed a deep red as she replayed her word vomit in her head.

Callie chuckled despite herself. "Why do you think I'm here? I left Broadway because I didn't feel like I belonged there."

"But you feel like you belong here?"

Callie cocked her head in thought. "I don't know, to be honest. There are definite...reasons...why I think I belong here, but I'm still trying to find my way."

"Is Ms. Robbins one of those reasons?" Riley asked cheekily.

"Riley," Callie cautioned.

"I know, I know. My lips are sealed." Riley sat back with her hands under her thighs so she could keep from fidgeting. She did another 'fish out of water' impression, before Callie stepped in to save her.

"I cast Emily as Maria, because she was the best for the part. I hope you don't think I was..." Callie couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. What was she trying to say? She hoped that Riley realized she wasn't condoning Emily's behavior? That she even knew what Emily was doing?

"I don't think that," Riley cut off Callie's internal panicking. "But that doesn't change the fact that it's difficult."

Callie felt for the girl standing in front of her. She wanted to tell her it gets easier as you get older but she knew that's not what Riley needed to hear right now and to be honest, her relationship with Arizona wasn't all that easy.

"Riley, I know this is difficult for you, but she honestly was the best person for the part. She is a natural talent and I really want this show to be perfect since it's my first year here and I would really like to stick around."

Callie hoped that would quell the beast in Riley at least for a little while. She knew though, it was only a matter of time before the young girl couldn't bottle up her anxiety any longer. Riley seemed to calm down and turned to leave but before she made it out the door, she turned around and walked right back up to Callie.

"When you came out, how did people react? I bet they were warm and accepting and didn't care because they knew that you were still the same person. I bet they treated you the exact same as they did before and your friends were still your friends. Well if you hav..."

"Riley this is highly inappro..." Callie attempted to interrupt Riley before she said something she would regret, but the stubborn girl just poke louder.

"IF you haven't noticed, it's not like that around here. You're new here so let me fill you in on a few things. People around here do care. They look at you differently. They don't treat you like a human being anymore. It would be so much easier if they treated me like I was invisible. Then that way at least I could go about my day without having everyone whisper behind my back. I've lost everything. She was my best friend. It's our senior year and my best friend of 12 years pretends she doesn't even know me. Do you have any idea what it's like to see the person you're in love with everyday and have them treat you like that? It's heart...heartbreaking. And now...now you've cast her as the lead in the musical so not only do I have to see her for 8 hours a day at school, but for two more during rehearsals? I just...I can't even...oh god, I can't breathe."

Riley clutched at her heart. Heavy streams of tears were pouring down her cheeks as she tried to inhale in between choked out sobs. Callie began to tear up when she reached out to offer Riley a comforting hug, but the student just pulled away.

"I'm not looking for your sympathy, Ms. Torres. I just want you to understand that this isn't all sunshine and rainbows for me. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to go through and I'm completely alone. My parents would disown me just like my friends already have. I wanted to be a part of this cast because I thought maybe I could make some new friends and the last 6 months of senior year wouldn't feel so empty, but now it will all be tainted because I will have to see her everyday."

Callie outstretched hands landed squarely on Riley's shoulders so she couldn't turn to leave. She needed to make sure what she was going to say next didn't fall on deaf ears.

"Riley, believe it or not I do understand what you're going through. What I'm about to tell you is not an entirely appropriate conversation with a student, but I know you won't say anything to anyone. I come from a very wealthy family. Not many people know that. I've had a trust fund my whole life and have never wanted for anything. I also dated men up until about five years ago. I met a woman that I thought was the love of my life and, well, that's neither here nor there. The point is, I knew I had to come out to my friends and family soon. When I told my father I was dating a woman, he began to preach the Bible at me. He refused to accept that his daughter was a lesbian and to be honest, it killed me. He took away my trust fund and left me with nothing. My mother didn't accept me either. She basically told me I was going to hell. So yes, I do know what it's like to feel alone. To think that everyone who you thought would be on your side to turn on you in an instant. I was so angry with my family for turning on me that I didn't realize I changed the game. I had dated men my whole life and now suddenly I'm dating a woman and just thought my über-Catholic family would be ok with it. I had to give them time and while my mother still isn't speaking to me, my father and I are closer than ever and he knows I'm incredibly happy. In the end that's all that matters. The people who love and care about you will always be there for you. You just have to give them some time to understand and accept it."

Riley looked completely stunned that her teacher had just shared this piece of her life so willingly. In truth, it did help to know that someone else she knows has been through this before and that they turned out okay.

"It's just going to be so hard to see her everyday. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it."

"You'll be able to do it. I believe you're a very strong young girl and you can be the bigger person in this situation. Come to rehearsal tomorrow afternoon and be the strong, confident young woman I know you can be."

"Thanks Ms. Torres. And I know I'm not really supposed to _know_about you and Coach Robbins but everytime you're around her, she lights up. You really seem to make her happy. I hope I can have that one day, too."

Riley gave Callie a hug before turning to leave. Callie could only hope that her talk helped because she would hate to see Riley head down a destructive path. She knew though, only time would tell.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Callie leaned against the doorjamb of one of the many dance rehearsal rooms as she watched Arizona teach The Sharks and their girlfriends how to mambo. She laughed as the girls swished their rehearsal skirts in time with the music in an attempt to be more "Latin".

"Left foot front, together, right foot back, together," Arizona called over the music. "Your other right foot, Mike!" The boy blushed a deep crimson as his partner laughed and the two lost their footing all together.

As the song came to an end, Callie began a slow clap and soon the whole group joined in, pleased with their hard work so far.

"You guys are definitely getting the steps down! Next week we're going to have all the boys in here and we'll choreograph the fight scenes, and then it will be time to learn my favorite, the cha-cha. Have a good weekend!" Arizona called after the group of students, who were already rushing to pack up their things and catch the buses.

Callie weaved her way through the departing students and leaned against the sound equipment while she waited for Arizona to pack her things. "That was pretty good," Callie hedged.

"Only pretty good?"

"Well, yeah, they all have the steps down, except for Mike," Callie winked and Arizona laughed, "but it's too technical. There's no Latin flair!" Callie struck an over-the-top schmaltzy salsa pose to emphasize her point.

Arizona rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's antics. "Are you saying I'm not a good dance teacher?"

By this point, all of the students had left the room.

"I'm saying that you have no passion, no...pizazz!"

Arizona sighed heavily, not exactly enjoying being told she had no passion. She threw her dance bag over her shoulder and walked brusquely to the door. "Can we have this conversation later? I'm hungry and tired."

"No, now. Let me teach you."

"I've been doing this long enough to know that I lack neither passion nor _pizazz_. All I want to do is go home and take a nice, long bath, preferably with my girlfriend."

Callie walked up to the brooding blonde and grabbed the dance bag off her should, dropping it to the floor with a loud thud. She shut the door with her foot and flicked the lights off in the dance room. The light from lamps outside shone through the windows and it was just enough to see the four walls of the room lined with mirrors.

"Excuse me. What are you doing? Turn the lights back on, please. I want to go home. I'm not playing this game with you tonight."

Callie's hands were on Arizona's legging-clad hips, pushing the smaller woman towards the center of the room. Grinning down at her girlfriend, Callie began to sway them in time with the tune playing out in her head. She felt Arizona tense at the movement and began running soft circles on her lower back.

"Relax, baby. It's dark outside and nobody can see into this room at night when the lights are off. I just want to dance with you."

Arizona began to relax at her lover's warm touch. She felt Callie move a leg in between hers and spin them around the dance floor. Leaning her head back, she let the brunette guide them effortlessly in a slow, sensual pace. The friction her girlfriend was creating against her thigh made Arizona moan and as she bit her lip, she brought her gaze to Callie. The light from outside let her raven hair shine in the dark and her brown eyes were now an obsidian of sort. They began to lose themselves in this dance.

With a smirk ghosting her lips, Arizona intertwined her fingers with Callie's and began to take the lead.

"Just because you've got Latin blood coursing through that delectable body of yours, doesn't mean you're the only one who knows how to bust a move."

"Delectable, huh?"

As Callie reached in for a kiss, Arizona scooted out from her grasp, her hips still swaying in time to the beat. She ran to the sound equipment, quickly fiddling with the knobs and picking out a song with a thumping salsa beat. She turned the volume dial, so that they could just barely hear the music.

Arizona returned to her spot in front of Callie. A coy smile on her face, she took Callie's hands and placed one on her hip and the other on her shoulder. Arizona knew the quick salsa steps, but she let Callie lead, playing right into the Latina's hands. The blonde inched her hips closer to Callie's swinging ones.

"I think most ballroom judges would give us points off for dancing inappropriately closely," murmured hotly in Arizona's ear.

"Well, it's a good thing they're not here, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Callie replied, before raising her lead hand and twirling Arizona out.

Instead of letting Callie pull her back in, Arizona took a spot in the center of the room, performing the dance moves on her own. Mustering as much passion and energy as she could, she swiveled and undulated her hips and arms, both gracefully and seductively. At first, Callie laughed at her girlfriend's defiance and need to prove her wrong, but after only a few moments, she became entirely entranced in the shorter woman's effortless dancing. She loved discovering these new facets of her girlfriend's personality and suddenly she realized she dreamed of many years of continual discovery.

"I love you," Callie whispered.

"What?" Arizona asked, unable to read Callie's lips in the dark.

"I love you," Callie repeated resolutely.

Arizona stopped dancing immediately. Swiveling on her heels, she turned towards Callie, walked to her with purpose, and covered the taller woman's lips with her own. Callie grinned into the kiss, but when Arizona's tongue slid past her lips, the brunette moand and began walking backwards. Callie's back hit the mirrored wall and hands were soon flying under her shirt, palming her breasts through the thin, lacy material of her bra.

"Arizona...we should...stop...we can't do...this...here." Arizona's kisses became more insistent and Callie knew she was going to lose this battle. The smaller woman's pelvis collided with the brunette's and Arizona's hand crept between them to rub Callie through her black pants. Arizona pulled back from Callie's swollen lips, panting heavily. She looked up into her girlfriend's eyes and smiled mischievously. She then looked over her lover's shoulder and saw her blonde hair reflecting in the light emitted from the streetlamps. The campus was a ghost town. Aside from the security guards and a stray faculty member, she knew they were completely alone.

She leaned in close to Callie's ear, nibbling on her earlobe as she seductively whispered, "Not only _can_ we do this here, we _are_ going to do this here. Right now."

The hand that had found its way between them was now firmly pressed against the Latina's hip, holding Callie in place against the wall while she continued her assault with her mouth. Arizona's nimble fingers released the button of her lover's pants and hurriedly slid her hand underneath the material. Callie gasped when the smaller woman's palm came in contact with her clit, creating an amount of friction the brunette hadn't been expecting, but delighted in it just the same. Arizona sucked on a patch of skin just below Callie's ear as her fingers pushed inside her girlfriend's wet heat. Callie had to bite her lip to keep from screaming out loud. The fear of possibly getting caught mixed with the powerful release she could feel building within her made every nerve ending in her body feel like it was on fire. Arizona pumped two fingers in and out of the woman she had pinned against the wall, and had to swallow a growl when she looked in the mirror saw their silhouettes moving in the shadows. She could see the reflection of the woman she loves coming undone at her hand and the whimper that crossed her lips made Callie's walls begin to clench. Arizona grabbed Callie's hand and pulled it up above their heads, intertwining their fingers against the mirror. Their mouths collided in a passionate kiss and Arizona's tongue caressed Callie's in a duel for dominance.

"You look so beautiful right now. Remind me to install a wall of mirrors in my bedroom."

With a few more strokes of Arizona's thumb over Callie's clit, combined with the blonde's recent statement was enough to send Callie right over the edge, her legs shaking at the resulting quake in her body. Arizona planted a soft kiss to Callie's lips and removed her hand, sadly sighing at the loss of contact.

"I love you, too, Calliope Torres. Now let's get our things and hurry home because I plan on spending the rest of this night making love to you. We might as well call in sick tomorrow because I have a feeling we're going to be quite tired."

Callie laughed while she buttoned her pants and grabbed her bag. They walked out the door, locked it behind them, and headed to their cars hand in hand.

As the pair reached their cars, Arizona turned and brought her hands up to cup Callie's face, bringing her in for a quick, but soft kiss.

"Go home and get whatever you need, then come over. I love you."

Callie smiled and leaned in for another kiss.

"I love you, too."

**o0o0o**

A figure walked quickly through the empty hallway towards the theater. She entered the auditorium and ran down the aisle, sighing in relief when she saw her cell phone in the third row where she had left it that afternoon during rehearsal. She scanned the myriad calls and texts she had missed in the hour or so she'd been without her phone as she walked back out of the building.

"Go home and get whatever you need, then come over. I love you," she heard a woman's voice say not too far from her.

Looking up from her phone for the first time, she gasped. The young girl ducked behind a bush as she watched the taller woman lean down to kiss the blonde. Lifting her cell phone up over the bush, she quickly pressed the "capture" button, hoping she caught the two women in the act.

As the two women got in their respective cars, the girl slouched back against the wall, her heart pounding.

"I knew it."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hey guys…soooooo I know it's been FOREVER since our last update and we really would like to take a moment to thank EVERYONE that has commented on this story so far…we really really do appreciate each and every one! Now as for this chapter, there is a minor section with a language warning that might be offensive to some people and I (Jamie) take full responsibility for it because I wrote it. So if it offends anyone I apologize but you HAVE BEEN WARNED! Emma and I came up with the plot together though so I can't take full credit for the idea heehee Enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

Not even 24 hours had passed after Callie finally admitted her love for Arizona, and the blonde was currently on cloud nine. She never imagined she would find someone to make her so completely happy the way Callie does and she was determined to do everything in her power to never let go of that feeling. Arizona didn't have any classes in the morning, so she took the opportunity to sleep in and run some errands before having to be at work. Arizona arrived just after lunch, and as she walked through the doors leading to the high school, her thoughts were consumed by Callie and the previous night. Arizona wasn't paying attention and bumped right into Harper, effectively knocking the girl flat on her ass.

"Oh, Harper I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Arizona reached down to help Harper back to her feet, but Harper flinched away in disgust.

"I said I'm fine. Don't touch me."

Arizona was slightly taken aback by the abrasive tone but chalked it up to teenage hormones.

"Oh, umm all right. Well again, I'm sorry. Next time I'll be more careful."

Harper just rolled her eyes and walked away.

When Arizona finally arrived at her office, she was met with a frantic Riley asking to speak with her.

"Thank god you're here. I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

"Riley, sweetie let me put my things down. Have a seat and I'll be with you in just a second."

"Coach Robbins, this is kind of an emergency. I'm not in danger, but I think you are...at least in danger of losing your job. I need to talk to you right away."

Arizona whipped her head around, instantly nervous when she saw the pleading look in Riley's eyes.

"Riley, what are you talking about? Why am I in danger of losing my job?"

Riley hesitated for a minute, wondering if coming to Arizona was the right thing to do. After seeing the concern written on Arizona's face, Riley began to speak.

_Earlier that day_

Harper arrived at school with an evil grin spread across her face. She texted Emily to see where she was.

_Where are you? I have something you're gonna want to see._

_I'm in the senior lounge._

_K meet me by my locker._

Emily was curious as to what her friend wanted so badly to show her so she vacated her spot on the comfy couch and walked over to Harper's locker to wait for her. Harper quickened her gate and finally made her way into the lounge where she saw Emily waiting impatiently.  
>Harper's backpack tumbled to the linoleum floor with a thud as she hastily pulled out her cell phone. Opening up her Photo Album, she tapped on the picture she had taken the previous night. As it opened onto the screen, Emily gasped and her eyes went wide.<p>

"Oh my god, Harper where did you get this?"

"I was leaving last night and I saw the two of them in the parking lot. They didn't see me so I ducked behind a bush and snapped this picture. I can't believe I actually got a decent shot! Now we just have to send it to the right people and these bitches will be out of here…"

"Wait, what? Why are we sending this out?"

"Umm, hello? Emily we don't want this at our school. You of all people should now that considering you've got some scummy dyke lusting after you. It's gross and immoral and people who are going to act like this shouldn't be teaching us anything."

Emily stood there for a minute, pondering what to do. While Emily's treatment of Riley had been less than stellar, she thought that this was going a bit too far. She also knew working with Ms. Torres was an opportunity of a lifetime and she couldn't take a chance of messing that up. She needed a plan to stall Harper. Smiling, she turned back to Harper who was waiting for a response.

"I completely agree with you. Something should be done about this, but not yet. I think we should wait until after the musical. You and I both know working with Ms. Torres, however immoral she may be, is an opportunity we can't pass up. She's worked with the best and if we want to get our names out there, working under her is the way to go. Once the performances are over, we can bring them both down. They won't know what hit them."

Harper didn't want to wait. She saw this as a disgrace to the school and a problem that needed to be extinguished immediately.

"What's happened to you? The Emily I knew wouldn't hesitate for a second to let this get out. In fact, the Emily I knew would be begging me to let _her _be the one to send it out so she could get the recognition for it. Where is _that_Emily?"

"Look, I want them gone just as much as you do, but we're not going to be in school forever. We have to think about our futures and our careers. I'm trying to get ahead as much as I can now and if have to use Ms. Torres to do it, then so be it. I don't play nice, but I'm going to make nice for the time being so in the end I get what I want. You know me, that's how I get things done. So I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, if you send that picture out to anyone, all the dirt I have on you over the past 12 years will be spread around as quickly as a wildfire and your life will be over. Are we clear?"

Although Emily hadn't changed her position on the matter, Harper knew Emily meant business so she didn't push the issue.

"As soon as the musical is over, this photo goes straight to Headmaster Clayton. No more messing around."

Emily nodded her agreement. "No more messing around."

As the two girls left to walk down the hall, Riley rounded the set of lockers with tears running down her face. She had to stop them before it was too late. She had to tell Arizona.

**0o0o0o**

Arizona sat at her desk, still in shock and fully absorbing the words Riley had just told her. Her normally porcelain skin was now almost completely white as the color drained from her face. She didn't want to lose her composure in front of a student so she politely asked Riley if she could have a minute alone and thanked her for letting her know.

Riley felt horrible, but she knew it had to be done. Before she left, Riley turned around and looked at her coach.

"I'm so sorry, Coach Robbins. A lot of people in this school truly admire you and would have your back in a heartbeat, myself included. I know I'm just a student, but if there's anything I can do to help, just say the words and I'll try my best to make it happen."

"Thank you, Riley. That means a lot to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make a phone call."

Riley shut the door and leaned against the other side. She could hear Arizona softly begin to cry and her heart broke for the woman inside. She knew she had to do something to right this wrong before it was too late.

**0o0o0o**

Arizona dialed Callie's office number as quickly as her fingers would allow. The brunette picked up on the second ring.

"Hey baby. Did you just get in? I thought you…"

"There's a picture. Of us. Kissing. In the parking lot. I don't…I don't know what to…to do." Arizona gasped out loud as she felt a panic attack systemically coursing through her body.

"Slow down, sweetie. There's a picture of us from last night in the parking lot? Who took it? And who told you?"

"Harper…she has it…on her…cell phone…fuck I can't…I can't breathe…it's all over…everyone is going…to know…Riley just told me."

Callie's head fell into her hand as she rubbed her temple. Normally this wouldn't bother her in the slightest, but this institution was a whole new world to her. She knew if this picture got out, hers and Arizona's careers would be over. Arizona's erratic breathing began to calm as her panic attack subsided.

"Stay in your office. I'm coming to find you." Callie moved to stand up and hang the phone on the receiver but Arizona's soft plea stopped her.

"I'm ok. I'm…I'm ok. I love you, Calliope. Let me figure out what to do and I will come see you after my classes are done for the day. I don't want to give Harper any reason to feel suspicious that we know something. She's extremely cunning and if she suspects anything, she'll send that picture straight to Headmaster Clayton if she hasn't already."

"Honey, are you sure? I don't want you to be alone right now."

"I'm sure. It's only a few more hours until the end of the day. I'll be fine until then. I love you."

"I love you too, Arizona. If…"

Before she could say anything else, the blonde had already hung up on the other end. Callie was never one to get overly emotional about any situation, but the thought of someone coming in between her relationship made her blood boil. She was ready for a fight and that's what this school was going to get if it came down to it.

**0o0o0o**

After the last bell of the day rang, Riley left her last class and went into the girls' bathroom. She walked into the stall just as Harper was walking out to wash her hands. Riley peered through the crack in the stall door and spotted the imprint of Harper's cell phone in the back pocket of her pants. Harper took a minute to fix her hair and make-up in the mirror before pulling out the device and typing a message to an unknown recipient. Remembering the hurt in Arizona's eyes, Riley flung the stall door open and launched herself at Harper, grabbing for the cell phone.

"What the fuck, you crazy bitch! What are you…get off of me!"

"I know about the picture! And I know what you're planning on doing with it!"

Riley lunged for the phone again, but Harper put her elbow eye level with Riley's nose and when the two came in contact, a loud crack echoed through the empty bathroom. Riley fell backwards, blood spilling from her flaring nostrils. She stood up and reached for some paper towels, holding her nose in the process. She glanced over at Harper who was smirking and finishing up the message. When Riley saw the phone, she caught a glimpse of the aforementioned picture on the screen and it fueled her anger even more.

"You're so pathetic. You think you can stop me from sending this to Headmaster Clayton? You're sadly mistaken. You and those two whores will all go to hell."

Harper made an attempt to step over her bleeding nemesis, but Riley kicked out her foot and tripped the unsuspecting girl. As she fell, her phone got knocked out of her hand and landed a few feet away. Harper quickly got to it and frantically tried to finish the email she had been trying to send. Riley clawed her way to little electronic device and just as she was about to pry it out of Harper's hands, she heard an all too familiar 'ding'.

Harper grinned and held up the phone for Riley to read. Her stomach lurched as she read the words:

_Message Sent._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Sorry again for the delay! Google docs trouble + traveling + lack of internet does make it difficult to update.

**Chapter 13**

"What are we going to do?" Arizona asked softly, taking a sip of her chardonnay. Callie had convinced her to relax with a homemade meal and some wine, before they attacked their current problem.

"We are going to go to school with our heads held high..." Callie began.

"...And what, we'll just pretend Harper doesn't have an incriminating picture of us? And wait until she sends it to everyone?"

"Woah, slow down, sparky. You make it sound like we were caught on tape burying a body or something! We did nothing wrong, Arizona."

"I know, I know. But we might as well be doing that if the 'powers that be' find out."

"Okay, seriously, you need to chill. What happens if they find out? We're good, intelligent, smart people. We'll find jobs somewhere else."

"I don't want a job somewhere else! I grew up here, I lived and breathed The Prep for twelve years of my life, and now I want to give back to that school."

"A school run by really conservative homophobes?" Callie was desperately trying not to judge, trying to understand, but she was failing miserably. Arizona simply was not like the rest of the people at The Prep.

"I know, I know. It makes no sense. Maybe I'm naively hoping that one day I, _we,_" she corrected, "could make a change."

"So then, let's make a change," Callie said softly. "But we won't change anything hiding in the closet." She wasn't trying to judge, and she really hoped Arizona wouldn't take it that way.

Before Arizona could reply, her blackberry beeped an annoyingly cheerful sound, indicating that she'd received an e-mail. Opening the e-mail, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, before literally shoving her phone in Callie's face.

"Oh my god, seriously? That's the picture? You can barely even tell that it's us!"

"Callie, be serious."

"I _am_ being serious, Arizona. This whole thing is ridiculous. We're basically living in fear because of a dark, blurry picture a 17-year-old has! Who else received that e-mail?"

"Oh, I don't know. I think I was blind cc'ed, because it only has my name in the "to:" line," Arizona replied, her breathing becoming shallower.

"Or," Callie started pointedly, "you were the only one to receive it."

"Doubtful. Harper wouldn't have given me that courtesy. I have to call Clayton."

"Okay, wait, honey, just breathe and – "

Without listening to a word Callie was saying, Arizona jumped out of her seat and rushed to her study, dialing Clayton's number on the way. She shut the door behind her and paced as the phone rang three or four times.

"_Hello?"_ she heard Clayton's deep voice sound over the phone.

"Oh, um, hi, sir. This is Arizona," she began, stuttering slightly. "Arizona Robbins," she added, as if there were others with her uncommon first name.

"_What can I do for you, Miss Robbins? At…8pm."_ It was well-known that Headmaster Clayton loathed being called during his family time.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but I thought I should call you immediately to discuss…the e-mail."

"_The e-mail,"_ he repeated slowly, confused.

"Uh, yes, sir. The e-mail that was just sent that shows me, well, you know."

"_No, I'm afraid I don't._"

"You don't," Arizona stated, suddenly wishing she hadn't been so rash. "So are you saying you did not just receive an e-mail from Harper?"

"_Well, I'm not actually attached to my blackberry, so I may have received an e-mail. Let me check…"_ Arizona could hear some sort of clicking, presumably the sound of Clayton's keyboard. "_No, not a single e-mail from Harper. Mind telling me what this is all about?"_

"Um, no, not really."

"_Miss Robbins…"_

"It's just a slight misunderstanding."

"_A misunderstanding which caused you to call me during my family time instead of speaking to me at school tomorrow? Miss Robbins, if there is something in that e-mail, which incriminates you in any sort of illegal activity, I need to know about it."_

"No, no! God no, nothing like that," she breathed.

"_Good. Now out of courtesy you are going to tell me why you bothered to call me."_

"Um, well, I think you know…and have turned a blind eye to…I'm trying to say that…"

"_Spit it out, Miss Robbins."_

"Harper has a picture of Miss Torres and me kissing," Arizona rushed out. She couldn't believe how Clayton was making her feel like a student rather than a colleague. She was sent right back to the time when a 16-year-old Arizona was caught by the Colonel sneaking in 15 minutes past curfew, and tears pricked in her eyes.

Clayton let out a long sigh, mulling over Arizona's confession. "_I see_," he said finally. "_Well, I must say I'm not pleased with your recklessness, or the fact that you were caught by a student."_

"Yes, sir."

"_You know I don't agree with your lifestyle, Miss Robbins, but I recognize that it is your choice to make."_ Arizona wisely held her tongue, though she desperately wanted to explain that falling in love with Calliope Torres was 100% not her choice. _"As long as this does not become a school-wide scandal, I have no business knowing about it, and this is the last I want to hear of it."_

"Yes, sir."

"_I will see you and Miss Torres tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Miss Robbins."_

**o0o0o**

"So?" Callie asked when Arizona re-entered the living room.

"Well, we're not fired."

Callie cocked an eyebrow, surprised she had been wrong. "So, he had received the e-mail?"

"Um, well, no, he hadn't."

"Arizona."

"I know, okay? I know. I panicked, and I called it wrong."

Callie patted the space on the couch next to her to indicate that Arizona should sit there. "You hate me, don't you?" Arizona asked only half-seriously once she'd sat down.

"Yep, can't stand you," Callie deadpanned, even as she began to gently massage Arizona's shoulders.

"Callie," Arizona whined.

"What I was trying to say before you got that e-mail and flew off the handle is that this is not who you are. The Arizona Robbins I know doesn't hide in closets afraid of a teenager. With everything else in your life, you take the reigns and face it head on."

"I was raised to be a good man in a storm," Arizona explained, implicitly agreeing with Callie's assessment of her.

"Exactly. And you are…with everything else. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to make a change, but I won't…I can't do that without you."

"I'm…in," Arizona started cautiously.

"I'm not asking you to go to school tomorrow looking like a rainbow threw up on you, okay? We'll take little steps."

"Little steps. I like that."

"Little steps together." Callie tapped Arizona and the blonde turned to face her. "I love you," Callie promised sincerely.

"I love you, too. Thank you."

**o0o0o**

"Hey," Emily said quietly as she sat down next to Riley in the back of the darkened auditorium. The men in both the Jets and the Sharks were practicing a big fight scene, so neither girl was needed for rehearsal, but both stayed to watch.

Riley grunted in response.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Emily continued.

"For what?"

"I told Harper not to send the e-mail to anyone else. She accidentally sent it to Coach instead of Clayton when you two fought."

"I know."

"And I'm sorry about your nose."

"You didn't do it."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Detention."

"I'm sorry."

"Okay, you know what? I've had enough. You bully me for _weeks_ because of what I told you and now all of a sudden you're _sorry_ for things you didn't even do? What the hell is your problem?"

"I just…I miss you," Emily replied lamely.

Riley scoffed. "Huh, that's interesting since you're the one who pushed me away."

"I was just scared." Emily was whispering now and her eyes began to water.

"Scared of everyone knowing your best friend was a big dyke?"

"Don't say that."

"Why not? You've been saying that this whole time!"

Frustrated that she wasn't getting her point across, Emily turned to face the stage and the two watched the scene unfold before them in silence.

Finally, Emily once more turned to Riley and began speaking. "They're fighting because Tony and Maria are in love."

"Yes, I'm aware of the plot," Riley said with an eye roll.

"It has nothing to do with them, yet because two people fell in love when they weren't supposed to, at least according to their family and friends, everyone is fighting. Love isn't supposed to be like that."

"Nope." Riley cared very little for Emily's seemingly sudden revelation about love and tolerance.

"Playing Maria has really opened my eyes to how ignorant people are when it comes to love and sexuality."

Riley turned for the first time to face Emily, surprised that something had finally gotten through to her closed-minded friend. Meeting the gaze of the girl she was once (and if she was honest, still is) in love with was all too intense for Riley, so she quickly turned once more to the stage. "I'm glad," she said finally.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm Maria and you're Tony."

Riley scoffed once more. "Except for one key distinction: Maria is in love with Tony."

"Yeah," Emily replied softly, a wistful smile playing at the corners of her lips.


	14. Chapter 14

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! Emma and I really appreciate them and we're so glad you're liking the story so far:) Only a few more chapters to go...so get ready for a great ride! Enjoy this chapter :)**

**Chapter 14**

Arizona placed a hand on Callie's bouncing leg as the two sat in the auditorium watching a run through of Act II.

"Stop," she whispered harshly.

"Oh, come on!" Callie stage-whispered back. "Do you not have eyes? This is terrible!"

"Oh, it's absolute shit," Arizona readily agreed. "But drilling a hole in the floor isn't actually going to help."

"Okay, actually? Are they robots devoid of all human emotion?"

"Callie, they're teen - " Arizona started.

"God, I can't watch this," Callie muttered, before standing up and clapping her hands to get the cast's attention. She turned towards the booth above the auditorium. "Can I get lights?" she yelled up at the lead lights technician. Almost immediately the stage and the house were flooded with lights, and the students immediately brought their hands up to shield their eyes from the harsh fluorescence. "Okay, seriously, do you all feel good about this performance at all?"

The students sheepishly shrugged while Arizona meekly stood up next to Callie, unsure where the feisty brunette was going to take this.

"Because, quite frankly, that was crap. Can anyone tell me how many days we have until opening night?" Callie searched the students, clearly not intending to move on until someone gave her an answer. "Yes, Frank?"

"25...ma'am."

"Thank you, Frank. Exactly. We have 25 days. Taking out weekends, because the administration doesn't let me force you guys to come in on the weekends, we have 19 rehearsal days until opening night." Before her voice raised to an unprecedented level, Callie braced herself against the chair in front of her and took a deep breath. "Alright, everyone, circle up. We're going to talk through this."

She brusquely walked to the stage, not bothering to take the stairs as she hopped on to the ledge and swung her feet over. Arizona quickly followed, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

The cast and crew dutifully formed a large open circle around the stage, some using the prop stair case to sit on. Callie and Arizona took up the of the circle and Arizona followed suit as Callie sat down with her legs crossed in Indian style.

"Can anyone tell me what West Side Story is about?" Callie started.

Several of the students rolled their eyes. They'd been working on this production for _months_; of course they knew what it was about.

"Please don't all raise your hands at once," Callie continued with a sarcastic edge. At this, the students all diverted their eyes away from Callie, trying to figure out who would be the first to speak up. "Yes, Rachel?" Callie asked, when one of the younger members of the group finally raised her hand.

"Well, it's based on Romeo and Juliet, and it's about two opposing gangs. Tony falls in love with Maria, who's in the other gang. Tony kills Maria's brother, but she forgives him. When Chino finds out about them, he goes to kill Tony. When Tony believes that Maria is already dead, he asks Chino to shoot him. Right before Chino shoots him, he sees Maria, but it's too late. After that, Maria basically pleads with the gangs to stop their violence and that's how it ends."

"Thank you, Rachel. That was a great summary of the plot. Now, can anyone tell me the main themes of the musical. You don't need to raise your hand, just shout them out."

"Love," someone said immediately.

"Violence," another member of the chorus piped up.

"Blinding hatred."

"Forgiveness," Riley said quietly.

The room fell silent as everyone mulled over the responses given so far. Finally, from Arizona's left, Emily took in a deep breath.

"Tolerance."

Arizona quirked her head to the side, not surprised by the answer but by who was giving the answer.

"That's a great response, Emily," Arizona replied. "Could you maybe expand on that a little bit?

"Um, sure. Well, all of the violence could have been avoided if the gangs took the time to understand each other more instead of hating each other just because. I mean, can you imagine a world like that, where people hate each other for no real reason?" As soon as she asked her rhetorical question, Emily realized what she'd said.

Callie gave a small, patient smile. "I can imagine a world like that, Emily. Maybe our society doesn't have Sharks and Jets, but there are still people who hate others for no reason. Can anyone give me examples?"

"Racism."

"Anti-semitism."

"Sexism."

The group fell silent as they tried to think of some other maligned groups of people. Arizona looked to Callie, knowing exactly where she was going with this, but also knowing that Callie wouldn't say one word if Arizona didn't want her to. So, the blonde decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Homophobia," Arizona added to the topics already presented. Callie looked over at the blonde with what could only be described as unfettered pride.

"Yes, exactly, racism and xenophobia are the issues presented in West Side Story, but that doesn't mean its message cannot still ring true to all forms of intolerance."

The room once again fell silent as the students tried to understand where Callie was taking this. Callie searched the room to find the perfect person to use in her example.

"John," she said to easily the most popular boy in the school. "How long have you been with Alice?"

The boy's eyes widened, unprepared for that line of questioning.

"Don't worry, it won't get _too_personal," Callie said with an impish grin. She'd watched the pair's relationship strengthen during the musical, and she already had a clue how the two felt about each other.

"Well, we've been together for about six months now," the usually confident boy answered shyly.

"What if someone told you that you two couldn't be together? What would you do?"

Alice watched expectantly from the other side of the room as her boyfriend blushed and began to stutter out a response.

"Well...I...I've never really thought..." John took a deep breath, before continuing. "You know what? I wouldn't care. I'd want to be with her anyway."

Callie's, Arizona's, and Alice's faces all broke into wide grins at the boy's admission. "That's how Maria and Tony feel," Arizona said, addressing the whole cast. "That there is nothing that could stop them from loving each other."

Turning to Alice, Callie addressed the young girl. "And Alice, what if your parents didn't want you to be with John?"

The girl smiled and scoffed good-naturedly. "They love John."

"Okay, but what if they didn't? Let's say they didn't like John, not because of his personality, but because he had a different skin color, or a different religion...or maybe because John is actually Joan. What if that's the reason they didn't like who you were dating?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't want to disappoint them. They're my parents, you know? But I couldn't just not be with John...or I guess, Joan, if that's what I wanted." The girl seemed to be getting more and more flustered at the idea of having parents who would try to get in the way of her love. "I guess I'm just lucky that's not the case for me," she said softly.

Callie smiled sincerely. "But that is the case for a lot of people in our society. A lot of people struggle with problems like this every day."

"When people are scared, they act out," Arizona began. "They hate, because they think that hatred will protect them from those who are different from them. But that just leads to widespread intolerance of certain groups of people."

"That's what this show is about and that's the message we want to portray when people see this show," Callie continued, picking up on Arizona's train of thought. "Our show is sold out already for every performance. That's a lot of people who will receive that message. Now, is every person going to walk away from the show with a new view on tolerance and love? No. But if we reach one person, then that is a job well done."

"We're not just talking to Matt and Emily and the other principals here. Even those of you in the chorus have the ability to make a profound impact on your audience," Arizona added.

The students looked around the room at one another, feeling the potential their performances had to make a difference. The shared experience of a theater performance was a strong bond in the first place, but after this lecture, their bond had grown exponentially.

"Okay," Arizona said cheerfully. "That's enough of that. Let's have some fun! We usually save this for opening night, but do you guys want to do our cheer?"

A loud cheer and a chorus of "yeah!"s emanated throughout the room. Callie looked on curiously, wondering what this tradition entailed. The whole group stood and held hands, and, with one of the drama seniors leading the group, shouted out the lines and performed the silly actions. Sufficiently pumped up, the cast and crew clapped and hollered at the end of the ritual.

"All right! Places for Act II. Let's do this," Callie yelled over the cacophony, a huge grin on her face.

She and Arizona took up their seats in the audience once again and settled in for what was sure to be an inspired performance.

**0o0o0**

"This is an outrage! Our children are too young to be discussing such adult topics. We want this musical pulled from production immediately!" One parent shouted from the end of the table.

Callie moved to stand up and give that parent a piece of her mind but a subtle tap on her knee under the table kept her in check. Callie and Arizona had been called by Headmaster Clayton to attend a meeting with some concerned parents of children in the musical. Apparently, the talk Callie and Arizona had with the students the day prior, did not go over well as dinner table conversation.

"I agree, my daughter came home from school yesterday telling me everything she learned about the underlying themes in the musical and I must say I was a bit taken aback. I was in West Side Story in college and the terms 'sexism' and 'homophobia' were never brought up."

Accusations seemed to be flying left and right at the two women sitting to the right of the Headmaster and Callie had listened to enough. Ignoring the worried look in her peripheral, Callie stood up and addressed the overly-concerned parents.

"I've been in the performing arts for a very long time and have had the good fortune to work with some of the best in the business. Believe me when I tell you, your children are learning from one of the best. I expect them to be on their A-game everyday when they step onto that stage and I know they expect nothing less of Ms. Robbins or myself. We have been working our butts off to make this one of the best shows this school has ever seen, and I'm sorry but the values your kids were bringing into their performances were unacceptable and something had to be said. Ms. Robbins and I simply offered them a deeper explanation of their characters to 'hone' their acting skills as you so bluntly put it. Once they understood that this story isn't just about a boy and a girl falling in love, but rather two people in a relationship deemed forbidden by society's standards, their depth in their performances grew exponentially. They learned a valuable lesson yesterday, one that none of you had taught them. They learned tolerance and understanding for one another and their bond as actors and friends is stronger than ever. If none of you can't accept that your children are no longer children, but young adults who are faced with situations like this everyday, then maybe you're the ones that need a lesson."

Callie's face had turned a shade of scarlet as she took her seat in between a doe-eyed Arizona and an utterly shocked Headmaster Clayton. The parents had fallen silent, listening to every word the angry brunette bitterly spit out. Just when she thought she had gotten through to them, the room became a cacophony of jumbled yells and more accusations.

Headmaster Clayton rose and quieted the unruly adults, stating that although he understands their point of view, he has to agree with Ms. Torres and Ms. Robbins. Once again stunned into silence, the parents looked at Clayton with sheer confusion written on their faces, while Callie and Arizona felt a small surge of pride.

"If that's your stance on this issue, sir, then I have no choice but to pull my daughter from the show." Emily's mother rose and stormed out of the room with several others claiming the same and following suit.

Once the parents had cleared the room, Clayton looked at the Callie and Arizona in a disapproving manner.

"This better be the show of the century or you both will be answering to the review committee. Understand?"

Callie stared straight ahead wondering how people could be so ignorant.

Arizona turned towards Callie and saw the pain in her girlfriend's eyes. Without looking at Clayton, she firmly stated, "We understand, for now. But this issue is far from over."

With that, Clayton left the women alone.

When she heard the door latch, Callie dropped her head in defeat and began to softly cry. Arizona's heart broke at the sight before her. She reached over and cupped Callie's face, placing a soft kiss on the brunette's temple. Resting their foreheads together, Arizona allowed Callie to release her pent up emotion.

"Hey. Hey honey, look at me." Arizona coaxed Callie to look her in the eye. "I love you and I will stand by your side no matter what. What you did, what you said in here tonight was a very brave thing to do and although I know you think it didn't help, it forced them to face the problem head on instead of hiding from it like they always do. It's a small change, but it's still a change."

"Nothing is changing. Nothing is going to change. This was just a waste of time. Can we please just go home?"

Arizona relented for now. She knew Callie would see that what she said yesterday and tonight would have an impact on their students. She just had to give it some time. Arizona interlocked her fingers with Callie's and led her out the door to head home. She knew tomorrow would bring an onslaught of fresh rumors and lies, but she also knew they'd be able to face it together.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Again guys...thanks so much for all the reviews! Only two more chapters to go after this one! Sad to see it end but it's been sooooooo much fun! :) Enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

Emily was sitting on her bed, fiddling around on her laptop when she suddenly heard the front door slam shut. She knew her mom had been at a meeting tonight at the Prep, but she had no idea what it had been about. She cautiously made her way downstairs to see what was going on.

"Hey, Mom. How was the meeting?"

"Emily, darling I don't know how you put up with those intolerable women that are directing you in this production. That speech they gave you yesterday about the show was just a load of crap. I'm sorry but I had no choice but to pull you from the show."

"You WHAT! How could you do that? Mom you know I'm the lead! This means a lot to me and my future career. Ms. Torres is the best I can learn from right now and after this she isn't going to respect me as an actress or a student. And as for that speech, it was incredibly inspirational and moving. It brought to light a lot of issues we, as students, deal with day in and day out. You have no idea the amount of pressure that is put on us every day to be the perfectly proper young adult we're groomed to be. That speech encouraged us to not only accept others for who they are but if other people don't like you for who you are then they aren't worth your time. Don't you understand that's a valuable lesson to be learned? I'm doing the show with or without your permission."

"Emily if you in any way partake in the production of that show you will be grounded until you go to college!"

Emily stormed out of the room and slammed her bedroom door. Knowing the influence her mother and father had on the school, it would be hard for her to attend musical practices without them finding out, but maybe with the help of Sarah, the understudy, she could pull it off just in time for opening night.

**0o0o0**

**3 weeks later**

Opening night was always stressful for the actors but even more so for Callie and Arizona. After the meeting they had with the parents, they lost 12 members of the cast including their lead female.

_Flashback_

_The day following the meeting, Emily had brought Sarah to Callie's office and told the director her plan to work during study halls with Sarah on blocking and singing and in turn allowing Sarah to have the lead in the previews and weekend performances. Callie was shocked at the initiative Emily was taking and even more surprised when Emily told what she said to her mother. Callie remembered how cruel Emily had been to Riley in the past, but this whole show focused on tolerance and change and if Emily wanted to be a part of that, the brunette certainly wasn't going to stand in the way._

_"Sarah, you've been awfully quiet. Are you okay with all of this?" Callie looked towards the normally shy girl and tried to judge her face for a response._

_"Yes Ms. Torres, I'm okay. Emily is the best person for the part and she and I talked about it a lot. She wants to pursue this as a career while I want to study Marine Biology so I understand how much this means to her. I'm happy to help in any way that I can."_

_"Well then it's settled. Emily I want you in the auditorium every day after lunch to rehearse. If you want "to keep your spot, I expect you to be there promptly at 1pm."_

_"Thank you so much Ms. Torres! I promise you won't regret this!"_

Emily had kept true to her word and worked extra hard during those free periods and if other cast members had the same free bell, they offered to come work with her to make sure she knew the steps and lines. Callie knew Emily was more than ready for her performance tonight, the only problem was that Emily was nowhere to be seen and it was 20 minutes to curtain call.

Callie frantically paced behind the curtain, glancing at her watch every few seconds then peering around the corner towards the door, hoping by some miracle Emily would magically appear, dressed and ready to go. Unfortunately she didn't see Emily anywhere, but a certain flash of blonde hair caught her eye.

Arizona walked over to where Callie was wearing a hole in the floor and placed a hand on her wrist, stilling her movement.

"If she said she'll be here, she'll be here. I know Emily hasn't exactly been the model student this year, but during field hockey if she made a promise to do something, she always delivered. Don't give up hope just yet, okay?"

Callie nodded, but the fear in her eyes betrayed her confidence. Truth be told, she was terrified that this show was going to be a disaster with or without Emily. After the 12 students were pulled from the show, they had to do a lot of improvising with dance numbers and extras in the cast. This wasn't at all how she imagined this show to be, but it was better than nothing and she had done the best she could. Everything else was in the hands of the students.

The lights dimmed, and Callie took her spot on stage to introduce the show. She had looked for Emily one last time before she stepped in front of the sold out house, but the girl was a no show. _So much for making good on her promise. All that work for nothing._

Once Callie had introduced the show, she made her way down front and took a seat next to her girlfriend. The house went dark and Callie held her face in her hands.

"I can't watch. I'm so nervous, I'm sick to my stomach."

The lights came back up revealing the opening scene and Arizona's face broke out into a huge grin. She leaned over and whispered to Callie, "I think you're going to want to watch this."

Callie sighed and peeked through her fingers to reveal none other than the girl for whom she had been desperately searching all night. Callie gasped and leaned forward in her seat, flabbergasted at how Emily had managed to keep her arrival a secret. Maybe this wouldn't be such a disaster after all.

**0o0o0**

Callie jumped out of her seat as soon as the two curtains met in the middle of the stage. She rushed through the backstage door, Arizona hot on her heels.

"Emily Gussack!" Callie bellowed. On her way to the dressing room, the teen cringed before turning towards her director. "You scared the crap out of me," Callie continued, while taking calculated steps towards Emily.

"I'm sorry. I didn't..."

Emily was cut off by the older woman enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. "Seriously, don't ever do that again."

Another apology rested on Emily's lips, but when she pulled away from Callie, she saw that the older woman had a wide, radiant grin on her face. "So, you're not mad?"

"Are you kidding? You're here. And your performance was crazy good. I couldn't be happier!"

"Seriously, Em, your performance was flawless," Arizona gushed.

When Emily didn't immediately respond, the two women looked at each other. "What's wrong, Emily?" Callie asked cautiously.

"My parents don't know I'm here," the younger girl whispered.

"Oh, Emily," Arizona sighed, pulling Emily into a hug.

"If you need to leave, we can put Sarah on for the second half," Callie added warmly. "We'd understand."

Emily pulled back immediately, tears in her eyes. "No!" she exclaimed, her wild eyes glancing back and forth between Callie and Arizona. "No," she added more softly this time. "I made a commitment and I'm going to see it through. I'm not going to let you guys down, I'm not going to let the cast down, and I'm not going to let myself down."

"Well, we're very proud of you," Callie said with a small smile. "Now, go get changed for Act II."

Emily grinned and took off for the dressing room. She had almost reached the door when she saw Riley leaning against the wall and she came to a screeching halt.

"Hey," Emily said with a small smile. The two had barely talked since their conversation while watching the show and Emily was positive Riley had either misunderstood entirely or wanted nothing to do with her.

"Hey," Riley replied, the corners of her mouth twitching ever so slightly.

Emily waited for Riley to say something, anything. When she realized that was a lost cause, she smiled a small self-deprecating smile, and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Riley exclaimed, her arm shooting out instinctively to catch Emily's elbow. "Your parents really don't know you're here?"

"Nope, and when they find out, I'm gonna be grounded forever," Emily replied with a small laugh.

"Why did you come?"

"I made a commitment."

"Mmhmm," Riley hummed with a nod, understanding.

"And I...I needed to do this. For me. And maybe...for you."

"For me?" Riley asked tentatively. "How so?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping maybe I'd impress you just a little bit by being here," Emily started. "You know what? It's so stupid."

"No, it's - "

"Five minutes, everyone!" the stage manager shouted down the hall. "Emily, why the hell are you still in Act I clothes? Come on!" he added as he passed the lead.

"Sorry," Emily apologized. "We'll talk later!" she yelled as she ran to her dressing room to prepare for Act II.

**0o0o0**

As Maria, Emily slumped over the limp body of Tony, quietly singing the refrain of "Somewhere" through her tears. Her tears were real tonight. The weight of the semester bore down on her as she released all of the emotion she had held within: the repression of her sexuality, her love for Riley, her frustration with her peers and parents for being so closed-minded, her disgust with herself for perpetuating it.

As she stood on shaking limbs, she took the flung gun, the one that had killed her fictional boyfriend, and pointed it toward Chino, the murderer, yelling about how all she has left is hatred. She heard the audience gasp as she once again dropped the gun. She began her impassioned speech about forgiveness and tolerance, pleading for a truce. With swollen eyes and puffy cheeks, she turned to the audience. Ignoring Callie's oft-mentioned direction not to break the fourth wall, she stared directly at members of the audience as she finished her speech.

As she scanned the audience quickly, Emily happened to notice a conspicuous couple standing by the entryway of the auditorium. She held back a gasp as the spotlight moved from her face and she could see more clearly that the couple standing there was her parents.

The orchestra began playing their plaintive finale as members of both The Sharks and The Jets, motivated by Maria's speech, formed a funeral procession together, carrying the lifeless Tony over their heads.

The music faded and the lights dimmed as Maria followed the procession off the stage, shaking slightly and hoping that not only would her presumably irate parents understand, but also the entire audience.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: soooooo heyyyyy everyone :) Sad news...this is the last chapter BUT there will be an epilogue :) So kind of happy news, too? Emma and I would like to give a HUGEEEEEE THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed and alerted this story! Without you all we wouldn't have probably continued so thank you so so so so so so much! We're sad to see this come to an end but I'm sure at some point we'll write again! Also...I'm going to shamelessly pimp out Emma's new story 'The Governess' over on lj...you can find it an .com :) Alrighty...without further adieu...**

**Chapter 16**

As the curtain closed for the final time that night, everyone jumped to their feet with tears in their eyes and a resounding applause. Callie and Arizona's hearts swelled with overwhelming pride as they looked around at the audience's reaction. As Callie was looking around, she noticed Emily's parents standing by the door and judging by the looks on their faces, they were thrilled at their daughter's performance.

**0o0o0**

Callie and Arizona moved backstage to congratulate the students on a flawless performance before heading out to the lobby to greet the family members of the actors.

Once they made there way into the sea of people that had gathered outside the theater, Callie noticed Emily's parents walking over to the couple. She plastered a smile on her face, readying herself for the verbal slaying she was certain they were about to receive.

"Ms. Torres, Ms. Robbins." Emily's mother outstretched her hand, signalling to both women that her intent was sincere.

Callie hesitated for a split second and Arizona quickly received the woman's proffered hand as a sign of appreciation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gussack, it's lovely to see you. Emily said she wasn't sure if you all could make it tonight, but we're very pleased that you did. How did you like the performance?"

Emily's father unabashedly beamed with pride for his little girl. His wife opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it, not being able to contain himself any longer.

"She was absolutely brilliant on that stage. We never knew our daughter was so talented. We wanted to thank you both for bringing out this side our of daughter that we would have never known existed. I believe this show will be a huge success and you both have a very bright future with this institution."

Callie and Arizona were grinning from ear to ear after hearing the heartfelt speech. They both knew it was the closest thing they were going to get as an apology for the way they had been treated, but to them it meant more than hearing the words 'I'm sorry'.

**0o0o0**

"They're really great together, aren't they?" Riley asked rhetorically as she sidled up to Emily, who was not-so-subtly watching Callie and Arizona as they easily maneuvered from one conversation to the next like a well oiled machine.

"Yeah," Emily agreed with a wistful smile.

"I want that some day."

"I know you'll have it. You're smart, driven...beautiful. Any girl would be a fool to turn you down," Emily said honestly.

"Does that make you a fool?" Riley asked. She smiled slightly to let Emily know she was half-joking.

"Yeah," Emily laughed. "Yeah, I guess it does. But I think I'm wiser now."

The pair fell silent, mulling over their next moves and watching their role models flit around the room, charming parents and students.

"Would you - "

"Can I - "

They both spoke suddenly at the same time.

"You first," Riley said, unsure of what she really wanted to ask.

"Um, okay...I was actually wondering if I could take you to dinner...or something...sometime." Emily exhaled a long puff of air as she watched the surprise and hesitation (and was that a hint of excitement?) wash over Riley's face.

After a dramatically long pause (Riley wanted Emily to squirm a little bit), Riley turned so that she was facing the young brunette. "Dinner...or something would be really nice."

"Yeah?" Emily asked, unable to contain her grin.

"Yeah," Riley replied with a matching grin. "But I want to take it slow," Riley added quickly.

"Slow...yeah...I can totally do slow!"

"Okay, then. Dinner after closing night?"

"It's a date," Emily said with a giggle. "So what were you going to say?"

"Oh I was just going to say...crap, your parents are coming over here." Riley made a move towards the door, but Emily's hand jutted out and caught her elbow.

"Stay," Emily hissed in Riley's ear. "I need a buffer." Riley hesitated, but before she could make her decision, Emily's mom was pulling her into a warm hug.

"It's nice to see you, Riley. We haven't seen you in so long," the older woman said with a sincere smile.

"It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Gussack. I'm sure I'll be around more often," she answered with a conspiratorial smile in Emily's direction.

Mrs. Gussack quickly moved over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around the young girl's shoulders, squeezing tightly. "I'm so sorry, darling."

Emily pulled back immediately and tried to peer into her mother's eyes. "You're not mad?"

"I'm mad that you snuck out, and you better believe that you're still grounded, but I understand. And your performance, Emily...it blew me away."

"Who knew you had that talent?" her dad asked rhetorically, still in awe.

"Well, Ms. Torres did."

"She sure did," Mr. Gussack agreed.

Sensing that she was no longer needed, Riley snuck away to be praised by her own parents.

"I'm sorry we didn't believe in you, and I'm sorry we tried to keep you from performing. I can't believe we would have kept you from that." Emily's mother had tears in her eyes now, guilt almost overtaking her body and mind.

"Oh, mom," Emily breathed, tears in her own eyes, as she hugged her mom once again. After a few moments, she waved her father over to join their family hug. They must have looked absolutely absurd, the three of them hugging and crying in the middle of the theater's lobby, but not one of them cared.

Emily pulled back hesitantly and breathed deeply. It was now or never. "Mom, Dad? How long am I grounded, because I kind of promised Riley I would take her to dinner after closing night. I made a mistake, a really really big mistake, and I almost lost her. I need to make it up to her."

Her parents shared a look and both were silent for a few moments until her father spoke. "Are you going to dinner as friends?"

Emily glanced over to Riley, who was talking animatedly to her family, throwing her head back in laughter. She swallowed a thick lump in the back of her throat, and swiped a finger quickly under her eye to rid it of the moisture that had collected there. "For now," she whispered.

"We'll have to talk about this," Mrs. Gussack responded, careful not to say anything negative or positive.

"Of course," Emily readily replied.

"But," her father started, glancing at his wife to make sure he was about to say the right thing, "I think that we could allow you this one break from being grounded."

Before her father had even finished the words, Emily let out a squeal and jumped up to hug him. "Oh, Daddy, thank you so so SO much!"

"You're welcome, honey," her father said with a laugh. "We may not have shown it recently, but your mother and I truly love you no matter what."

"I love you guys so much."

**0o0o0**

On the other side of the room, Callie and Arizona watched Emily's interactions with her parents, both in awe of the Gussacks' acceptance. They stood transfixed, save for the few congratulatory praise they received from parents, students, and faculty.

"We put on a pretty great show, didn't we?" Callie asked, her eyes sparkling.

"We sure did. We make an amazing team."

"Both at work and not."

Instead of responding, Arizona ran her hand down Callie's forearm, and slipped it into the taller woman's, interlocking their fingers. Callie looked down at the blonde in absolute shock, her eyes wide.

"But we're at - " she started.

"It's okay," Arizona answered, squeezing Callie's hand as reassurance.

Feeling encouraged, Callie lifted their joined hands and kissed Arizona's thumb, before dropping their hands in between them once more.

"I am _so_proud of you," Callie said, her eyes filling with saline.

"Are you crying?" Arizona teased good-naturedly.

"No!" Callie coughed to cover up her shake voice. "No, it's just my contacts acting up," Callie tried.

"Huh, that's interesting, Miss Likes To Brag About Her Perfect Vision."

Their banter was interrupted by an elderly couple, one of the chorus members' grandparents, coming to sing their praises. Arizona pulled her hand away in order to shake the hands of the couple, before placing it squarely back in Callie's. The couple glanced at the directors' joined hands, but neither said a word.

"Thank you," Arizona said once the couple had left.

"For what?"

"For giving me a push and helping me see that with a little courage - and an amazing musical, if I do say so myself - we could change a few people's minds."

"I should be thanking you," Callie said with another squeeze of Arizona's hand.

At that moment, Riley coughed behind them. They unlinked their hands momentarily to turn towards the girl. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think I'm heading out for the night, and I just wanted to say thank you."

"A lot of thanks going around tonight," Callie joked.

Ignoring her comment, Riley continued, "No seriously, you guys saved my life this year and I will literally never be able to thank you enough. This school is a much better place with teachers like you."

"And students like you," Arizona replied.


	17. Epilogue

**A/N: Here it is, loyal readers! The epilogue you have all been waiting for…it's a long one, but we intended it to be to sum everything up with a nice little bow on top :) We hope you have enjoyed this fic as much as we have enjoyed writing it. The excerpt Emily uses in her speech is actually from an Apple campaign from years ago…**

**Thanks again so much for reading and commenting. We truly appreciate all your input and hopefully you'll see us again at some point when our lives aren't ridiculously hectic!**

**Epilogue**

With a grin, Riley knocked on the door labeled "Arizona Robbins, Headmistress". Her grin grew substantially wider when she heard Arizona's cheerful voice ringing, "come in!"

Riley slowly pushed open the door and leaned against the doorjamb. "Hey, Coach! Or should I say Headmistress?"

Arizona's face erupted in pure glee at seeing her former student and player, but she quickly reigned her in joy and answered, "It'll always be Coach to you, Riley."

"Oh, come here, you!" Arizona grinned from ear to ear as she got up from her desk and reached out to pull Riley into a hug. As she pulled back, she saw a slight movement outside. Peering around her office door, Arizona laughed when she saw a particularly shy and sheepish Emily.

"Emily Gussack. I didn't think I'd see you back here! Ever!"

"Well, I came with Riley. We came to give you and Ms. Torres invitations to our graduation from Maryland in May." Emily handed Arizona two small cream envelopes, with their names in metallic gold calligraphy.

"Oh awesome! I'm sure we'll be able to go!" Arizona exclaimed. She then glanced between the two, smirking at the way they looked at each other. "So you two are...?" Arizona trailed off, not wanting to overstep her bounds.

"_Still_ happily together," finished Emily, stepping into the office and slipping her hand into Riley's.

Arizona wrapped her arms around both girls' shoulders, pulling them into an awkward group hug.

"Yay! I knew you'd make it. Callie and I were just talking about you guys the other day and wondering if you were still together."

When she saw Emily's furrowed brow and Riley's raised eyebrow, she decided to move on.

"Anyway, it's so great to see you! Unfortunately I have a meeting in - " she looked at her watch "- five minutes, so I can't stay and talk right now. But I really want to talk to you two more."

"Well, we'll be around later this after - " Riley started, before she was cut off by Arizona's exuberance.

"Hey! I have an idea! Why don't you guys come to dinner tonight with me and Callie. She'd love to see you, too, and that way we can all catch up. Sound good?"

The two bewildered girls looked to each other, before Emily shrugged and laughed. "Sounds good."

"Great! Beau Monde at 7? It's this great new French place."

Before the girls could answer, Arizona was breezing out of her office. "See you at 7!"

She rushed down the hallway to her meeting, nearly running into her grinning girlfriend.

"Hey, speedy!" Callie teased.

"Ooooh, hey. I wanted to ask you if you had plans for tonight."

"I was just going to ask you the same thing!" Callie said, still grinning stupidly. She paused for a second, realizing what Arizona said, and scrunched up her face. "Wait, why do you want to know about my plans for tonight?"

"Riley and Emily are in town, and I thought we could take them to dinner. Actually, I'm running late to this stupid board meeting. Do you think you could make reservations at Beau Monde for 7?"

"Oh...um...yeah, sure." The grin fell immediately from Callie's face.

"What's wrong? You love Beau Monde!"

"What? Oh, yeah, I do. You know it's my favorite. Nothing's wrong!" Callie responded, a bit too brightly.

"Great! I'll see you tonight!" Arizona exclaimed, before speeding off down the hall.

Callie took out her phone from her pocket and scrolled through the numbers. Finding the one she wanted, she hit send. On the fourth ring, the hostess picked up, cheerfully announcing the restaurant's name and her own.

"Hi, this is Callie Torres. I just spoke to you. Can you actually change my reservation to four people? Thanks."

_**Flashback**_

The rest of the year went by more quickly than anyone had anticipated. Before long, the senior class was eagerly counting down the last couple of weeks of their high school career. Some were sad to see it end but others couldn't wait to get out and start fresh.

Emily and Riley had been spending a lot of time together since the musical ended. All of their friends seemed to be accepting of their relationship, except Harper, who was constantly hounding and bullying them. On top of all the stress with Harper, Emily was still waiting for her acceptance letter to UMD. Riley was already going there on a field hockey scholarship and although it wasn't Emily's first choice for musical theater programs, she wanted to stay close to her girlfriend.

The last Saturday before finals, Riley awoke to a familiar tone emitting from her phone.

_Can I please come over? I need to talk to you._

Riley's emotions ranged from concerned to nervous at what her girlfriend needed to talk to her about.

_Yeah, of course. Are you okay?_

_I'm fine; I just want to come tell you something._

_Ok, I'm still in bed. Just come on up._

_Thanks… be there soon._

Riley stretched her arms above her head and trudged to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She couldn't figure out what was so urgent that Emily needed to see her first thing in the morning but any chance to see her girlfriend was a welcome one.

Barely ten minutes went by before she heard her front door slam shut and footsteps running up the stairs. Emily burst into Riley's room with tears in her eyes. Riley immediately became alarmed and threw her arms around Emily as soon as she sat down on the bed.

"Emily, sweetie, what happened?"

"No…no I'm okay. I'm just so happy. I wanted you to be the first person I told."

Emily looked up to see Riley's panic-ridden face slightly soften. She smiled and took a deep breath while looking straight into Riley's eyes. She cupped her girlfriend's face and leaned their foreheads together.

"I got in."

Riley broke out into a face-splitting smile as she leaned closer and touched her lips to her girlfriend's. Emily laughed into the kiss and threw her arms around Riley's neck and they continued to kiss for several minutes before pulling apart. Riley pushed a stray tendril of hair behind Emily's ear, contemplating everything this meant for them.

"What should we do to celebrate? Dinner? Movie? Both?"

Emily smiled. "All of the above sound wonderful. As long as I get to spend time with you I don't care what we do."

Riley suddenly got a puzzled look on her face.

"Wait a minute. It's first thing in the morning and mail hasn't even come yet. When did you find out you got in?"

"I've been checking my email first thing every morning for the past two weeks. Sometimes it will come through your email before you get your acceptance letter in the mail. Today just happened to be the lucky day!"

"I'm so proud of you! I know how stressed you've been. I can't believe we get to spend the next four years together. It's going to be amazing. Oh we have to tell Coach and Ms. Torres! They'll be thrilled!"

"I know. Everything really is falling into place."

Emily gave Riley a quick peck before getting up off the bed.

"Where are you going? I wasn't done with you yet." Riley stuck out her bottom lip and patted the vacant space next to her on the bed.

"You said you wanted to celebrate. Why not start now? Get dressed and meet me downstairs. I've got a fun day planned for us."

Riley couldn't contain her excitement as she sprang off the bed and rushed to her closet. She had a feeling today was going to be a pre-cursor of hopefully the rest of their lives.

**0o0o0**

Graduation quickly approached and on a sunny Friday afternoon in June, the senior class of 2008 gathered in the center courtyard of the school to take pictures. The girls were clad in beautiful white dresses and held bouquets of crimson and white lilies in their hands while the boys wore off-white dinner jackets and black suit pants, a crimson lily decorating their breast pocket. To anyone else it looked like a ridiculous mass wedding, but to them, this ceremony was based upon hundreds of years of tradition that they felt honored to uphold.

Just before the procession was about to start, Riley looked around for Emily but couldn't find her anywhere. She decided to check the bathroom, and there she found her girlfriend, standing in front of the mirror with her eyes closed and her mouth slightly moving.

"Sweetie, what are you doing?"

Startled, Emily jumped back and gasped as she spotted Riley in the reflection.

"Oh, I was just going over my speech in my head."

Riley walked up to Emily and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist, resting her head on her bare shoulder. They looked at each other in the mirror.

"You know you've gone over every word of that speech at least a hundred times in the past two weeks. It should be tattooed on your brain by now."

Emily leaned backwards into Riley's embrace, her demeanor softening a little.

"I know. I'm still nervous though. I'm a great public speaker but the butterflies are always there. Even during the musical I was nervous before every performance."

Riley laughed and placed a kiss on Emily's shoulder. "I'd be worried if you weren't nervous. Come on, the procession is about to start and we can't have our valedictorian M.I.A. can we?"

Emily puffed up her chest and let out the breath she had been holding.

"No, I guess not. Hey before we go out there I need you to do something for me?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Just tell me I'm great. And that you believe in me, because without your support, all of this means nothing."

Riley dropped Emily's hand as she turned to face her. Placing both hands on the sides of Emily's cheeks, Riley looked her in the eye.

"You are amazing. You're smart and confident and incredibly brave for putting yourself out there and telling me how you feel. Look at where it's brought us. We're about to graduate, closer than we ever have been before, and we're spending the next four years together, and hopefully many more after that. I may have opened your eyes to the possibility of an 'us', but you're the one that allowed me to love you and make that possibility our reality."  
>Riley paused and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips.<p>

"Now go out there and give 'em hell. Seriously, it's a great speech and you should be very proud of that and everything else you've accomplished to receive this honor. I'm so proud of you."

"I love you, Riley. I know it seems rushed and I'm not just saying it to say it. I've wanted to tell you for a long time now but I've been waiting for the right moment and well, this just feels right. I know I haven't been the best friend to you this year but I promise I will never treat you like that again. You're my best friend and I couldn't leave this school without telling you. In some weird way, this overly conservative institution brought us together and with all the craziness that's gone on this year, this school still holds a special place in my heart. So yeah, that's it."

Emily was stumbling over her words, which Riley found absolutely adorable. Riley smiled and kissed her girlfriend once more.

"I love you, too. And I want to continue this conversation further, but right now if we don't get out there, we don't graduate. I really want to graduate…"

"I know, I know. Let's go. I'm so ready to do this."

She took Riley's hand in hers and exited the bathroom, finding their places in line.

**0o0o0**

"And now, it is with great pleasure and honor that I introduce to you this year's valedictorian,  
>Miss Emily Gussack." Headmaster Clayton turned to the young woman and smiled, gesturing for her to stand.<p>

Applause erupted in the gymnasium as Emily stood to take her place at the podium. She memorized her speech days ago, but the nerves were certainly present. Her eyes flitted to her left and saw Riley smiling at her, so she took a deep breath and began.

"Good afternoon faculty, staff, parents, grandparents, underclassman and fellow graduates. Today marks our last here at The Prep and as our senior year comes to an end, we find ourselves reflecting on the years we've spent at this institution. We may have a small graduating class, but out of the 106 young men and women seated on this stage, 77 of us have attended this school for twelve years. I don't just consider these people my peers and friends; I consider them a part of my family.

"We've grown up together, cheering each other on from little league to Varsity and Grandparents' Day to major theatrical productions. Sometimes I still see us as the wide-eyed, six-year-olds that shook Headmaster Clayton's hand on the first day of school. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast, and yet here we are, all grown up with the same wide-eyed look on our faces. We may be able to do arithmetic with our eyes closed, dream fluently in a foreign language, or even recite Shakespeare backwards, but all the schooling in the world cannot prepare us for the journey on which we are about to embark.

"We will form new relationships as we continue to discover who we are, but from this moment forward, I challenge all of you to remember the relationships we've forged here at The Prep. Remember the crazy times we had, the laughter and the tears we shared, the teachers that made us smile and the ones we looked up to as more than teachers, but mentors."

Emily paused and pointedly looked at Callie and Arizona. The pair smiled and nodded their heads in appreciation before Emily continued.

"I once saw an Apple campaign with the slogan 'Think differently'. The following is an excerpt from that campaign that I feel sums up each and every one of us.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who usually do.

"So as I stand here before you, I challenge you to push yourselves to the best of your abilities. Change the world. As we leave here today with our diplomas and awards for all of our achievements throughout these years at this institution, we take with us a piece of each other and our brief time here together. The world is going to be what you make of it. You can change it, you can mold it. That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just going to live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, and make your mark upon it. To the seniors, my second family, go make your mark. If you change, change for the better. Always be the bigger person. Learn from your future peers and never take any experience for granted, because that one experience might end up changing your life. Congratulations Class of 2008. Thank you."

It wasn't customary for the senior class to give a standing ovation, but before the parents and faculty even had a chance to stand up, her classmates were on their feet, showing their appreciation. Emily smiled and took her seat once more, smiling over at her girlfriend who was beaming with pride.

Headmaster Clayton took the podium once more, stating that the diploma ceremony will begin. One by one, the seniors received that coveted piece of paper and sat back down.

After all the diplomas were presented, Clayton formally announced the graduating class of 2008, but before they could begin their procession out of the gym, Headmaster had one more announcement.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must announce my retirement at the end of this school year. I have served as the head of this school for 27 wonderful years, but my wife and I both feel it is time for me to step down and a new leader take my place. Currently I have one faculty member in mind that has shown to possess all the qualities and qualifications it takes to run this school. I hereby nominate Ms. Arizona Robbins to take my place as headmistress of The Prep."

The crowd, including Arizona and Callie, who were unaware of his decision, collectively gasped in shock. Riley and Emily grinned from ear to ear. Arizona had no idea he was retiring, let alone going to name her as his nomination. She wasn't sure if she would be ready to take on that responsibility, but Callie reached into her lap and squeezed her hand in support. She knew whatever she decided, Callie would be right there every step of the way.

"There will be a vote by the board members conducted in July and you will receive notification of their decision by the beginning of August. I appreciate all of your dedication to this school and hope that you will continue to show the same respect to the next person in charge, whoever that may be. This concludes the graduation commencement ceremony of 2008. Thank you all for your attendance."

A resounding applause echoed from students, faculty, and parents alike. This was a shock to everyone, but mostly to the two women standing with their mouths still slightly agape.

Everyone remained standing and cheering as the senior class walked out to pomp and circumstance. As Riley walked by Callie and Arizona, she sent them a wink, trying to hold back the tears as the finality of the situation finally hit her. As Emily had said, they had to go out and make their mark, and that is exactly what she intended to do.

**Present Day**

"Okay, seriously? I know my stories aren't always the best..."

"Mmhmm," Callie interjected.

"_Anyway_," Arizona said pointedly. "That one was actually really hilarious and you didn't even smile! What is wrong with you? You're so distracted. And you keep texting Mark under the table."

Callie looked up from her phone, shocked that she hadn't been as subtle as she'd hoped.

"I'm not blind, Calliope," Arizona chastised. "Now why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Um..." Callie started, but her eyes shifted to the restaurant's door mid-thought. Following Callie's gaze, Arizona saw Riley and Emily enter the restaurant and she waved them over.

"This isn't over," she whispered fiercely in Callie's ear, before getting up to greet her former students.

After some momentary awkwardness regarding whether the newly 21-year-old young women should drink a glass of wine in front of their former teachers (after some encouragement from the "cool" teachers, they decided that they could), the four eased into a pleasant, relaxed conversation.

Arizona and Callie filled the girls in about all of the Prep drama. The year following West Side Story, a few parents had taken their children out and enrolled them in the rival school. After Arizona, now openly gay, had been appointed headmistress, there was even more parental backlash and removal of students. Despite those losses, however, the Prep has been thriving under Arizona's leadership. She'd had to hand over her coaching position, but she'd found someone who was _almost_ as talented her, and the field hockey program had remained the number 1 team in the state. Callie's musicals continued to be top-notch and attracted state-wide attention.

In turn, Riley and Emily told them all about their time in college, the ups and downs of their relationship, and how grateful they still are that their former teachers gave them the push they needed four years ago.

"So, have you guys kept in touch with anyone else from high school?" Callie asked when the conversation started lagging a bit.

"Yeah, we stay in touch with most people through facebook." They continued to tell the two women what all of their former students were up to.

"And Harper?" Arizona asked finally, noticing the girl was conspicuously left out of their conversation.

"Well, we stopped talking," Emily started. "But from some posts on facebook, we think she got academic sanctions suspended from school for starting a religious organization, which basically bullied anyone who didn't fit their norms."

"Wow," Arizona said, while Callie nodded. "Anyway, on to happier topics, guess what the musical was this year?"

And with that the conversation continued smoothly, all four of them thoroughly enjoying the others' company.

**0o0o0**

"Would you just tell me what the hell has your panties in a bunch?" Arizona yelled after Callie as the brunette slammed the car door shut and marched up the driveway. "You picked at your food all through dinner, fidgeted with your napkin as if it had ants crawling all over it, and refused wine, which, let's be real, is _not_ something the Calliope Torres I know would ever do."

Callie whirled around, frustrated with Arizona's incessant nagging. "I'm trying to make sure Mark didn't burn down our house!"

"Um, what?"

Callie's eyes widened when she realized what she said. "Just come on!"

When Arizona stopped in the middle of the driveway, Callie huffed and stomped over to the blonde. She grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to their front door, Arizona grumbling and muttering under her breath the entire way.

As soon as they entered the room, Arizona's mumbling stopped completely. In fact, she found she had lost the power of speech entirely. She took in the room. Votive candles lined their open living room while a fire roared in the hearth. There was a blanket on the ground with strawberries and grapes and champagne arranged neatly on top.

When Arizona finally did manage to speak, all that came out was a strangled "oh god".

"I-I-it...it's our anniversary, isn't it? And I completely forgot, right? That's what all this is? I'm the worst girlfriend ever. But...wait, I thought our anniversary was in August."

"Oh my god, stop," Callie said, placing her hands on Arizona's shoulders to get her to really listen. "It's not our anniversary. And you're definitely not the worst girlfriend ever. Probably, like, the exact opposite. You know why?"

"Why?" Arizona asked, head cocked and dimples beginning to show.

"Because you knocked me up."

"What?" Arizona breathed. "You're...and we? I mean...how? What?"

"I will answer your questions and half-questions in order," Callie started cheekily, loving her girlfriend's reaction. Becoming pregnant as a gay couple, as a general rule, could never be a surprise, and yet Arizona was acting as if she had no idea it would happen. "I'm pregnant. We're having a baby. You know exactly how...when two people are in love, or, in our case, when we buy some sperm and use a turkey baster."

"But...but they said it basically never works the first time!"

"Well, we got lucky."

"We sure did," Arizona replied, wrapping her arms around Callie's waste and resting her hands above her ass.

Callie dipped her head down to capture Arizona's lips in a firm kiss. "We're having a baby," she said.

"We're having a baby," Arizona whispered back.

**0o0o0**

Arizona ran her finger down the length of Callie's naked torso, before following its path with her tongue.

"Mmm, baby, round three already?" Callie asked, her voice husky from rounds one and two in front of the fireplace.

"Not quite," Arizona mumbled from Callie's belly button.

"You sure? Because it sure seems like..."

"Hi, baby," Arizona said, addressing the unborn baby in Callie's stomach.

"Oh," Callie grinned. She would willingly forgo Arizona's talented tongue for this.

"We're so excited for you to get here, even though I know we have a while yet. We're so lucky. You're pretty lucky, too. Your mommy was this super amazing Broadway star and now she teaches kids how to be just like her. Your mama is the headmistress of that school and a pretty great field hockey coach, if she does say so herself. But more than that? Your mommy taught me how to be brave and courageous and stand up for what I believe in, and we're going to teach that to you, little one."

A tear trickled down Callie's cheek as she thought about how absolutely lucky she was to be becoming a mother with Arizona.

"Okay, goodbye for now, little one," Arizona continued. "I have to go rock your mom's world."


End file.
